Thiruvananthapuram: Customs superintendent V. Radhakrishnan was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Friday in connection with the gold haul at the Thiruvananthapuram airport.
The DRI found that the gold was regularly smuggled in when Radhakrishnan was on duty. This was exposed when 25 kilograms of gold was seized from the bags of Sunil, a native of Thirumala, and Zerina Shaji when they came out of the airport after checking recently.
Rashid, accountant of a private firm in the city that bought gold from the smugglers, was also arrested. Earlier, the DRI had confirmed that a group of customs officials at the airport was involved in the smuggling. Hakkim, owner of the firm, is absconding along with advocate Biju, the main accused in the case, and his accomplice Vishnu.
During investigation, it was found that the smuggling occurred when the batch headed by Radhakrishnan was on duty. The team interrogated Radhakrishnan and checked his mobile phone. They also examined the CCTV visuals.
Radhakrishnan had received information about the women who carried the gold in advance. He was produced before the court and remanded. The leads to the present seizure were received from the arrests and questioning of many contract employees of the airport during the last two months.
