NEW DELHI: In a major development, one more accused in the Nedumbassery gold smuggling case was apprehended by the immigration authorities at the Coimbatore international Airport.
Yasir Ignu Muhammad, a native of Muvattupuzha, was arrested on his arrival from Sharjah at around 4 a.m. on Monday. “Yasir, a close associate of Noushad, kingpin of the smuggling racket, had gone into hiding after the Customs authorities launched a probe into the case’’, said a top officials with the Customs Department.
According to officials, Yasir, a confidant of Noushad had recruited several people to the racket by establishing links with the staff of the ground handling agencies at the Nedumbassery airport. He had also visited CIAL several times to receive the gold, taken out by the airport staff.
Earlier, the authorities had invoked a detention order against nine people, including Yasir, under provisions of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (Cofeposa). Based on this, Yasirwill not be entitled for bail for another year and will now be put in Poojappura Central jail in Thiruvananthapuram.
From the statements of the accused, the Customs Department has concluded that the racket had smuggled between 1,700 to 2,000 kilograms of gold to Kerala over a period of 18 months. Its operation came to light with the seizure of 13 kg of gold from two ferry coaches and the arrest of one Salim, who landed here from Dubai on May 25.
The Customs sleuths have so far arrested about 37 people, including a police officer deployed at the emigration wing at CIAL, employees of a ground handling agency and owner of a jewellery shop in Muvattupuzha. The officials are on the lookout for three more personsFaisal, Fazil and Saifuddin.
