KOCHI: The soured relationship between Jibin Basheer and his wife turned out to be a trap for the former immigration officer at the Cochin International Airport, who was arrested by the Customs Department on Sunday.
According to sources in the Department, it was Jibin’s wife who tipped-off about his involvement in smuggling.
The whole of Jibin’s family, including his mother and wife, were well aware of the illegal business and were involved in it. But, Jibin got estranged from his wife a couple of months ago over some family issues, and she went to her house. Then, she filed a petition in the Family Court seeking divorce from Jibin and a compensation of `2.5 crore from the `8 crore he allegedly received as ‘commission’ for facilitating gold smuggling.
When a series of compromise attempts on the compensation amount failed, she reportedly alerted officials of the Immigration Bureau (IB) about Jibin’s involvement in gold smuggling. Subsequently, the IB removed him from immigration duty and sent him back to the State Police. However, he went on leave soon after rejoining and sent a resignation letter.
“The letter was under consideration of the authorities concerned,” said the SIIB officials who arrested Jibin.
When the SIIB officials quizzed Jibin’s wife, she said she had filed the divorce petition after her repeated attempts to dissuade him from engaging in smuggling failed. However, the officials did not buy that argument, considering the involvement of the entire family in the illegal activity.