Representative image of gold.
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A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) assistant commandant at the Kozhikode International Airport in Kerala was found to be having nexus with a gold smuggling racket.
A probe by the Malappuram District Police Chief Sujith Das into a gold smuggling racket held on October 5 exposed the nexus of a CISF assistant commandant as well as some customs officials and a worker of the luggage handling section. The CISF official is suspected to have helped in gold smuggling 60 times over the last two months by accepting around Rs 50,000 per smuggling.
The district police chief informed that based on a legal opinion a case under Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against the CISF official, identified as Naveen, and further investigation was progressing.
The police recovered evidence of payments made by the racket to the CISF officials through various sources, including persons in Delhi. The CISF official was also found to be sharing duty charts of customs officials to the smuggling racket members. He also helped the racket to get help from some customs officials.
With the case against him, the CISF official is likely to be suspended from service soon.
The district police had been maintaining a vigil at the Kozhikode airport for quite some time following reports of rampant gold smuggling with the connivance of officials.