5 kg gold and ₹3 lakh cash recovered from 'secret chamber' during raids in Kerala

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized 5 kg of gold worth ₹2.51 crore and over ₹3 lakh in cash from premises belonging to a Malappuram-based jewelery house promoter, who is the alleged beneficiary of a Kerala gold smuggling case. The seizure was made during searches at four premises including Malabar Jewelery and Fine Gold Jewelery promoter Abubakar Pajedath in Malappuram and Kozhikode premises of Atlas Gold Super Markets Pvt Ltd.

Besides the ED, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Customs Department are probing the gold smuggling case in Kerala, in which ₹15 crore was allegedly stolen from the diplomatic baggage of the UAE consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5, 2020 Gold was seized. In a statement on Wednesday, the ED said, “Abubekar Pazhedath of Malappuram is part of a gold smuggling syndicate headed by Sarith PS, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, under the patronage of IAS officer M Sivasankar (former principal secretary to the Chief Minister of Kerala). "