ALAPPUZHA: Blasting the media for carrying baseless stories about her, Bindhu took strong exception to reports which she said portrayed her as someone who had engaged in smuggling of gold for the last 18 years. However, her revelation that she had travelled to the Gulf thrice in the last eight months has created doubts in the minds of sleuths.
“The media should have checked my financial status before giving these kind of news. I had to put off even an MRI scan advised by doctors since I couldn’t manage the Rs 5,000 needed for it. Rs 354 is all I have in my account. I don’t have multiple bank accounts. I have only my wedding chain and the men who abducted me took away the small chain and my earrings too,” she told reporters at her residence.
“I know Muhammed Haneefa, who had given me the parcel containing the contraband, from my family’s days in Dubai. My husband drove a taxi there and Haneefa used to hire his taxi. Using this connection he gave me an article and instructed me to hand it over to a person in Kerala. When I realised that the consignment was gold, I abandoned it at the Mali airport to avoid being caught by the authorities there. When I arrived in Kochi, my husband was there to receive me.
“A youth representing the smugglers had been waiting for me outside the airport. He would not allow us to leave the airport and he tried to abduct me. When I told him that I will lodge a police complaint, he requested me not to do so since he lived with his mother.
“But the gang members followed me and they came to my house several times demanding the gold. They wanted to know to whom I had given the gold. I was abducted by a team led by Hariss from Malappuram and I was taken to Nelliampathy. There I saw a person named Shihab waiting for me. They tortured me inside the car. Doctors told me I have suffered a fracture to the spine and advised three-weeks’ rest . I told the police about the incident and the abandoning of gold. Earlier also, the gang had given me boxes saying they were cosmetic items and asked me to deliver them to people at the airport. I have travelled three times in the last eight months for my job-related purposes,” Bindhu added.