In a mysterious incident, a 35-year old man, who was questioned by the Excise Department in a case related to brown sugar smuggling, was found dead at his residence at Chemmarathur near Vadakara on Monday. Vadakara police said that Sreejith C, 35, of Chakkyeri, Chemmarathur, Vadakara, was found hanging in the bedroom of his house around 11.30 am.
The Excise Department had summoned him to record his statement in the case pertaining to the seizure of brown sugar from a Malappuram native from Naduvannur, on Monday. Sreejith, who was working as a driver in Kuwait, agreed to present himself before Excise Circle Inspector Perambra for questioning by noon and informed this to the Excise officials in the morning. However, he took the extreme step later, according to the police.
Earlier, Rassik, a native of Kalikavu in Nilambur, was arrested while attempting to hand over the psychotropic substance packed in a parcel along with jeans to Jerish of Nadavannur who went to Kuwait on April 12. According to the officials, Rassik was deputed by Shafeek to transport the brown sugar, weighing 951 gm, which costs around `1 crore in the international market, to clients in Kuwait through Jerish via Karipur Airport.
The Excise questioned Sreejith and he was summoned to be present on Monday after they received vital clues on his involvement in the drug trafficking case. According to the officials, Sreejith called the father of Jerish and told him about the parcel. However, Jerish was unable to carry the parcel as it weighed more than the weight mentioned by Shafeek and others.