Tamil Nadu: Gold smugglers kidnap 'courier' for cheating

CHENNAI: A thriving gold smuggling syndicate got itself exposed, besides revealing chinks in the airport security system, when smugglers kidnapped and detained four men as they had failed to hand over 500g gold they had managed to sneak in from Dubai. Eight people have been arrested in connection with the smuggling-kidnap drama. It all started when Anandaraj of Tiruvallur agreed to be a ‘kuruvi’ (illegal courier) for Hasan Batcha of Dubai. He brought in 500g gold hidden inside a microwave oven, for a commission of Rs 30,000. However, after getting out of Chennai airport on September 7, along with the gold, Anandaraj gave his handlers the slip and disappeared. With the help of his relatives Shyam, Michael Raj and Shyam Kumar, he opened the microwave oven, retrieved the gold and sold it to a jeweller in Sowcarpet for Rs 15 lakh. On September 8, an eight-member gang led by Idayathullah visited Anandaraj’s house and demanded that he return the gold. After Anandaraj claimed that he did open the oven but could not find any gold in it, the gang kidnapped him and his three accomplices. The four were confined in two rooms at a lodge in Arumbakkam and thrashed through the night. Hearing their cries, the hotel staff alerted the police control room, prompting a team to rush to the lodge and rescue the victims. Police also recovered 500g of gold and Rs 15 lakh in cash from the suspects. The Arumbakkam police have registered two separate cases. One relates to the theft of gold and sale to a jeweller in Sowcarpet. Police arrested Anandaraj, Sridhar and Vinod for the offence. In the second case, police arrested Idayathullah, 40, of Karaikal, Balagan, 29, Ravi Kumar, 38, Dinesh, 28, and Naveen Kumar, 23, for kidnapping and attacking Anandaraj and others. All the eight arrested people were remanded in judicial custody.