Nine accused in 2,000 kg gold smuggling case to be charged under Cofeposa

Kochi: The nine accused in the case of 2,000-kg gold smuggling through the Cochin International Airport, including four who are still at large, will be charged under the provisions of Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (Cofeposa).

The Cofeposa Board has given the approval in this regard on the basis of the report submitted by the customs. With this, the accused in the case can be held in preventive custody without bail for one year.

The accused in custody are P. A. Nuashad, former police constable Jabin K. Basheer, Shinoy, Bibin Scaria and Salim. Faizal, Fazil, Yasir and Saifuddin are still at large.

Nuashad, Jabin, Shinoy and Bibin Scaria surrendered before the customs officials after Cofeposa was slapped against them.

According to customs officials, Nuashad, the prime accused in the case, smuggled nearly 2,000 kg of gold with the help of Jabin, a police constable working in the immigration department, and ground-handling staff of some of the airlines.

The racket was exposed in May following the seizure of 13 kg of gold by the customs. The probe later revealed that the racket was involved in the smuggling of as much as 2,000 kg of gold worth Rs 600 crore.