MALAPPURAM: The police team investigating the conspiracy behind the foiled gold smuggling attempt through Kozhikode airport, hopes to nab more people linked with the Koduvally smuggling syndicate. The team is trying to track down other Koduvally gang members who are on the mobile phone contact lists of the Cherpulassery gang. They have intensified the hunt for Suffiyan, a key member of the Koduvally gang.
The police arrested Fijas, 21, brother of Suffiyan, on Friday and his accomplice Shihab on Saturday. The team also seized Fijas’ car. The police took Hassan, 35, one of the eight members of the Cherpulassery gang who were arrested from Ramanattukara soon after the accident that killed five of their fellow members on Monday, to his house at Vallapuzha for evidence collection on Sunday. The gang had gathered at Hassan’s house to plan how to give protection to the Koduvally gang.
However, the police team has not yet gone deep into the connection of Kannur native and former DYFI member Arjun Ayanki with the gold smuggling case. A customs team from Kochi is focusing on Arjun’s involvement. As per the information from the police team, he was part of a ‘Pottikkal gang’, which snatches hawala money and illegal gold from smuggling rackets.
The gang was allegedly behind the attempt to snatch gold from the Koduvally gang for which 2.33kg of the yellow metal was brought by Mohammed Safeeque. However, Shafeeque was detained by the customs at the Karipur airport last Monday. According to the police, the Cherpulassery gang was hired by the Koduvally gang to protect the gold from the ‘pottikkal’ gang.
As per a source, there are three major gangs involved in the gold smuggling operations through Karipur airport — a syndicate which operates hawala business and gold smuggling, the ‘pottikkal’ quotation gang which snatches the illegal money and gold by kidnapping carriers and another quotation gang which recovers the money and gold from the ‘pottikkal’ gang for the syndicates. Jobless youngsters are roped in mainly by these gangs with the promise of huge amounts of money in reward.
The source said had the customs failed to seize the gold from Shafeeque, the airport premises would have witnessed a major fight between the Cherpulassery gang and Pottikkal gang from Kannur.The affiliations of some members of the quotation gangs to political parties have come to the fore. That is why the parties have started blaming each other to get political mileage.
“A proper investigation must be carried out to nab the end beneficiaries of the gold smuggling. This probe should not be carried out to favour political parties. All of them, political and non-political members of the gangs, should be arrested,” said a member of the advisory committee of Kozhikode International Airport.
Search on for Suffiyan
The probe team has intensified the hunt for Suffiyan, a key member of the Koduvally gang.