Malappuram: Police, investigating the kidnap and gold heist planned by a gang at Karipur airport on June 7, arrested three more persons over the past two days and expanded their probe into the ‘conspiracy’ surrounding the smuggled gold.
The arrested persons were identified as Mohammed Salman Salih (29), a native of Munduparamba in Malappuram, Sadiq P P (38) of Parappanangadi and Subair (38) of Koottayi. Police arrested Salman and Sadiq on Thursday while Subair was arrested on Friday. All three were produced in court and remanded in judicial custody.
Earlier, police had arrested 13 persons, including a Karnataka native, who allegedly arrived at Karipur airport on June 7 with an intent to abduct a passenger and rob his gold. Investigators said the arrested persons belong to five different gangs. Police had received a tip that Subair would arrive from Jeddah with gold while the gang too got hold of this information.
Police questioned Subair but did not find any gold in his possession and released him. They traced Salman after his family filed a complaint at Karipur police station that he was missing when he did not come home after arriving on a flight that day. Subsequently, Salman told investigators during questioning that he and Subair had planned the smuggling. Salman told investigators that he had deceived rival robbery gangs and taken possession of the gold himself. After this, police arrested Subair.
Police found that the gold was supposed to be delivered to a person identified by its owner. Salman decided to hand it over to another individual after being offered Rs 40 lakh but later chose to share it with two others. Investigators found that Salman and Subair travelled from the airport with an associate to a house in Mukkam, where Sadiq was present. The group then went to Ernakulam, rented a room, broke open a trolley bag and divided the gold concealed inside.
Police, trying to recover the gold, indicated that more arrests are likely in the coming days.
