Customs informers become millionaires

Kozhikode: Khader Mohidheen (name changed) was a peanut seller outside a cinema theatre in Malabar area but now he owns a supermarket in the gulf.

He once helped the customs intelligence unit to seize 100 plus kg gold that landed at seaport and the reward he got for it changed his life forever. At present there are 26 such well networked informers there in Kerala to help the customs intelligence unit and all of them dream to replicate the success of Mohidheen.

If the gold smuggling continues unabated, most of them would soon become millionaires and the customs officials who affect these seizures would also pocket a good amount of extra perks.

The customs department has already paid more than Rs. 20 lakh to 17 of these informers as advance reward in the last six months. The department pays 20 percent of the total reward amount as advance and the rest is paid after completion of the legal formalities of the case. These informers are involved in other businesses and some of them are working.

“It is a misconception that these informers are leading a risky life. Most of them are never known to a third person and they get the reward to the accounts they suggest, that too completely tax free. Not even in one case any of our informers had been targeted,” a senior customs official told Deccan Chronicle.

Except for the case of Kasargod Hamsa, there had been hardly any case where an informer was harmed. Hamsa was shot dead after the smugglers suspected his role in a seizure.

The customs officials are also happy about the thriving smuggling scene. The customs officials also get a good amount towards rewards.

“The rewards for the officials have been restricted now. An official could avail a maximum of Rs. 15 lakh in a case, no matter however big the catch was. But it does work as a motivation for the young officers to inculcate informers and record more seizures,” the official added.