Thiruvananthapuram: A 36-year-old man, linked to the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case, has surrendered before the Customs.
He was identified as Jalaal Muhammed, a native of Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam.
The probe team suspect that Jalaal had helped Perinthalmanna native Ramees in selling the smuggled gold. Ramees was recently arrested by the Customs. Jalaal also allegedly sent the money to the Gulf via the hawala network. The Customs has seized his friend's car, which has a specially-built cavity to conceal the gold.
Customs also nabbed Mohammad Shafi from Malappuram and Hamjad Ali from Kondotty. They'll be produced in the Economic Offences Court on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, six teams of Customs carried out raids across Kerala on Tuesday to nab the other culprits.
The Customs had seized 30kg gold, worth Rs 13.5 crore, from a diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5. The first accused P S Sarith is already under custody, while two other accused Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair were arrested from Bengaluru by the NIA on Saturday. The third accused, Faisal Fareed, is still at large.
Interpol's help to be sought
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) would seek the help of Interpol to nab Faisal Fareed from Dubai and extradite him to India.
The NIA court has issued an arrest warrant against Faisal, a native of Thrissur.
Faisal was named as accused in the gold smuggling case filed by the Customs.
The Home Ministry had directed the NIA to take up the probe, considering the likely links to terror financiers. Faisal is also an accused in this case in which NIA had invoked provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
