(This is Part 1 of the series 'Gold & Diplomacy' by Manorama Online. )
On April 29, 1989, Shahnaz Hamsa, a native of Pallikkara, was shot dead by a group of people on the Poinachi Highway in Kasaragod.
Hamsa had agreed to take gold worth Rs 6 crore from Kasaragod to Mumbai. He was shot dead on the suspicion that he had leaked the information to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
A Dubai-based smuggling gang was behind Hamsa’s killing, the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) concluded after it took over the case from the Crime Branch.
“We are a part of a trade network with chained links all over the world.” This is a dialogue Mohanlal says playing the character of a gold smuggler in the film ‘Loham’.
P S Sarith Kumar, arrested in the gold smuggling case uncovered at the Trivandrum International Airport, is the lowest and the weakest link in that chain, says Customs officials.
Based on their experience, they say smugglers are the most honest group of workers. They don’t cheat or divulge information. There is only one punishment for those who don’t abide by this rule: death.
Hamsa was the first person in Kerala to fall to the bullets of the underworld for informing officials about a smuggling operation. The smugglers suspected that Hamsa had cheated them. Their investigation, spread over two months, confirmed that he had passed on information to DRI officials.
Their next inquiry was to find out the official to whom Hamsa had given the information.
After ascertaining that Hamsa had held discussions with the DRI official at a hotel, they shot him dead on the national highway.
Two months is nothing, they will go about seeking revenge for such betrayal till the end of their lives even as they smuggle gold from foreign countries into Kerala and various other parts of India.
The smugglers, however, do not carry hatred against officials who seize gold. But their code is that any gang member or any of their relatives who leaks information to law enforcement agencies does not deserve to live.
The ‘thief and police’ game
While smugglers try to sneak in gold by hoodwinking officials or by co-opting or bribing them, officials try to seize smuggled gold by winning over some gang members. Whoever wins gets to keep the spoils.
It is difficult to fight against gold smuggling without informants. About 90 per cent of smugglers follow the unwritten rule that there should be no betrayal or cheating.
The carriers are clearly told that they will be ferrying gold before they are given the baggage. Those running the operations don’t give out misinformation.
Hawala transactions are also carried out in a similar manner, say officials.
If a gang member vanishes with the amount to be paid, another member will compensate for the loss. Trust is the most important factor in the trade.
Officials need the help of informers to penetrate this underworld setting where cheating and deception are uncommon.
A snake and ladder game
Among smugglers, it is difficult to find people who will leak information. An official’s ability and luck should come together to turn a smuggler into an informant. An informer’s trust is one only through a lengthy relationship.
A person aware that there is an attempt to convert him into an informer will try to put pressure on the official. He will say he will provide information but will demand that his smuggled consignment should get Customs clearance without any hassle.
Most officers will say no to this. They will say they will reward the informer for genuine information. An informer is paid Rs 1.5 lakh as reward for every kg of smuggled gold seized based on his information.
When a case is detected, an informer can be paid Rs 75,000 as advance. Then, later, when the investigations are over, he is immediately paid the full amount at a place of his choice anywhere in India.
When gold is seized with the help of informers, smugglers try to find out about the officers who obtained the information.
They gain access to colleagues who would know which officer has filed the information in big cases and try to obtain the mobile number of the officer. They will then obtain the call details of the mobile number. In some states, they can get the call details by bringing police employees, say Customs and DRI officials. They will then analyse the call details to find out the informant.
This has forced the officials and informers to go back to the old ways of communication. They reach out to each other through trusted messengers.
While officials are busy trying to track them, the smuggling gangs stay very careful. They do not keep details of all those who are a part of the smuggling chain. Except for a very few trusted and loyal members, the others will not even be a part of the chain. One person will bring the gold to Dubai. Another person will receive it and transfer it from one vehicle to another.
The gold will then change many hands before reaching the team that will pack it. Once the packing team is done with its job, it will collect its reward and leave.
There will be another team to deliver the gold packet to the airport via carriers. The person collecting the gold in Kerala will have no clue about all those who were involved in getting it there.
The gold will again pass through many people before it reaches a safe place. The many links between the seller and the buyer never come in touch with each other.
