KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) team probing the 2020 Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case recovered gold and cash in raids at the residence and shops of an accused jeweller.
The raids were carried out on Monday at the Malappuram residence of Aboobacker Pazhedath and three jewellery shops in which he has varied interest. ED said it recovered 5.058kg of gold worth Rs 2.51 crore and Rs 3.79 lakh concealed in a secret chamber in one of the shops.
According to an ED statement, Aboobacker is part of the gold-smuggling syndicate headed by Sarith P S, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, under the patronage of M Sivasankar, IAS and was one of the beneficiaries. “Out of the smuggled gold seized by the customs on July 5, 2020, 3kg of gold belonged to Aboobacker, who is the promoter of Malabar Jewellery and Fine Gold Jewellery, both based in Malappuram and one of the shareholders of Atlas Gold Super Markets Pvt Ltd, Kozhikode, Kerala,” it read.
During the interrogation, Aboobacker had admitted that 3kg of gold seized by Customs belonged to him. “Apart from that, he has also admitted that he had smuggled six kgs of gold in a similar manner in the past through diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate.
The amount for buying the said smuggled gold was raised from his business firms - Malabar Jewellery, Fine Gold and Atlas Gold Super Markets. Discreet enquiries conducted have further revealed that Aboobacker was still indulging in gold smuggling-related activities through his above firms,” the release added. Earlier, the customs and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested Aboobacker in the same gold smuggling incident.