KOZHIKODE: Five persons died on the spot after an SUV in which they were suspectedly chasing a gang that came to receive gold worth Rs 1 crore, smuggled in by a passenger from the UAE to the Karipur airport, collided with a cement-laden lorry near Ramanattukara in the early hours of Monday. The incident took place at Pulinjod curve near Vaidyarangady around 4.45am.All deceased are from Palakkad district. According to the police, they are Muhammad Nasar, 28, of Koppam; Subair, 36, and Assainar, 25, of Nellaya near Cherpulassery; and Muhammed Shaheer, 26, and Thahir, 23, of Chemmankuzhi near Cherpulassery.
According to Feroke police, at least four other vehicles were on the accident spot and eight youths who were travelling in a car were being quizzed. Police suspect that a gold smuggling gang in three vehicles was being chased by another gang in two separate vehicles. The second gang wanted to snatch the gold when their SUV collided with the lorry.
The police said the first gang waited outside the airport to receive the smuggled gold from the passenger, who arrived around 2.30am from Dubai on Sunday but was caught by the customs officials who seized 2.33kg of gold from him. Not knowing this, the other gang in a car and SUV chased the other vehicles believing that the passenger and the smuggled gold were inside one of those three vehicles. The chase could have resulted in the accident.
Among the deceased, Muhammad Nasar and Thahir had cases registered against them in Palakkad including for kidnapping. Kozhikode City Police Commissioner A V George said the police are yet to ascertain the number of people involved and how so many of them could speed to the spot despite the traffic curbs in view of Covid. “The Medical College assistant commissioner is probing the case. We suspect it could be the result of a gold smuggling attempt or quotation given to the gang,” he said.