KOCHI: Mystery shrouds the incident in which a passenger who landed at the Kochi airport from Sharjah was kidnapped by a gang on Sunday noon even as the police suspect the hands of a gold smuggling racket behind the alleged ‘abduction drama’.
The police suspect that members of the racket abducted Taju, 30 — who arrived at 2.30pm on an Indigo flight — after he attempted to escape without handing over the smuggled gold. After he hired a pre-paid taxi and reached a fuel station on the highway near the airport, the gang intercepted his vehicle and took him to Perumbavoor, the police said, recounting the statement of the taxi driver. The police are yet to unearth the exact reason behind the alleged abduction or trace the people behind the incident. Belonging to Vadakkanchery, Taju was rescued from a lodge in Perumbavoor by the police by evening.
The Nedumbassery police has registered a case for attempted abduction. They have also recovered the CCTV footage from the area.“We need to corroborate the statements of the victim. He was saying that he went with two of his friends to Perumbavoor. We are checking whether he has any link with gold smuggling gangs,” said an officer. “The police seized the vehicles and received clues on the accused. The arrest will be made in the coming days,” said K Karthick, SP, Ernakulam Rural.