The Dubai Police arrested Faisal Fareed, the master brain behind gold smuggling through diplomatic channel in Thiruvananthapuram
Airport on Sunday. According to reports reaching Police Head Quarters at Thiruvananthapuram, Fareed would be handed over to India in the next two days.
The Dubai Police interrogated Fareed and has collected important information from him. Fareed, a school dropout hailing from Kodungalloor in Kerala had a meteoric rise over the last three years which has baffled the residents of the town.
The last three years saw him establishing himself as a businessman in Dubai owning gymnasiums. He used to host most of the film stars reaching the West Asian shores but remained aloof from all fellow Keralites. The UAE Government has taken serious note of the activities of Fareed as the gang in which he is a member made use of the West Asian country’s diplomatic immunity to smuggle gold into India. The union ministries of external affairs and home are in contact with their counterparts in UAE to speed up the extradition of Fareed to India.According to Customs officials, Fareed has undertaken smuggling missions at least 13 times during the last one year with the help of Swapna Suresh, Sarith Kumar and Sandeep Nair. Investigating agencies are scanning all available evidence to establish the links between terrorist agencies and the gold smuggling racket.The Customs officials at Thiruvananthapuram airport on Sunday quizzed Jayaghosh, the gunman of UAE attaché, who tried to commit suicide by slitting his wrist on Thursday night. It is likely that he may be questioned by the sleuths of NIA and the Intelligence Bureau. Jayaghosh is undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram and is recovering well.The Customs offcials in Kochi have sounded the Kerala Government of their intention to question M Sivsankar, the suspended former principal secretary to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.The NIA and Customs officials have collected valuable information from Swapna and Sandeep during Saturday’s evidence collection. The educational qualification of Swapna is under the scanner now as the investigating agencies doubt the authenticity of the degree certificate submitted by her to get job in the IT department of Kerala Government.