Kondotty: Five youths belonging to yet another gang from Koduvally have been arrested in the Kozhikode airport gold smuggling case. The gang had received a contract directly from abroad to ensure the safe passage of the gold from the airport, located at Karipur in Malappuram district, to its intended destination, said the police. Three members of the gang are yet to be nabbed, added officials.

Those arrested are Riyaz (33) of Melekundathil; Muhammed Basheer (39) of Pilavullathil; Muhammed Hafiz (28) of Oyalakkunnu; Muhammed Fazil (28) of Nattukallingal and Shamsuddeen (35) of Pundathil, all belonging to Koduvally.

According to the police, Riyaz was the leader of the gang, which had arrived at Karipur in the wee hours of June 21 to take the gold smuggled from Dubai by Muhammed Shafeek, a native of Moorkanad in Malappuram. Another gang leader, Sufiyan, also had received a similar ‘quotation’ (contract) from abroad.

However, the operation failed as Shafeek was arrested by the Customs.

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Deputy Superintendent of Police K Asharaf said that the five youths were nabbed while escaping to Wayanad and their car was seized. With the five fresh arrests, the total number of people nabbed in connection with the case has risen to 16. Five vehicles, apart from the one that met with an accident at Ramanattukara killing five gang members, have been taken into custody so far.

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