India News | Councillor Taken into Custody in Gold Smuggling Case in Kerala

Kochi, Oct 1 (PTI) A municipal councillor backed by the ruling LDF in Kerala was taken into custody by the Customs on Thursday in connection with the sensational gold smuggling case, official sources said here. Sleuths from the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate picked up Karat Faisal from his residence in Kozhikode district during a raid on Thursday morning, they said.

"He is a person of interest. He is being questioned", an official source said. Customs sleuths suspect that Faisal has "deep links" with the accused arrested in connection with the Thiruvananthapuram airport gold smuggling case through diplomatic baggage of the UAE consulate.

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Previously also Faisal, the councillor of Koduvally municipality in Kozhikode district, was booked by the Customs in connection with the gold smuggling. In October 2017, CPI(M) state secretary and party politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had landed in a controversy over using a Mini Cooper car belonging to Faisal, during a party yatra. Multiple agencies including NIA, Customs and Enforcement Directorate are probing the case of smuggling of gold worth over Rs 100 crore through diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE consulate at Thiruvananthapuram since November last year.

Several persons including former employees of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, Swapna Suresh and Sarith P S, were arrested by the central agencies in connection with the case. PTI TGB

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(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)