Kochi: Five and a half kg of gold was seized from Nedumbassery airport. The gold was seized from five passengers on flights from Chennai and Dubai.

It is suspected that the gang members who reached Nedumbassery from Chennai were members of an international gold smuggling ring. The four boarded the flight from Dubai to Chennai. Of this, Ramesh V, Suresh Babu, and Sheikh Mohammad had 355 grams of gold in their possession.

Balan Umashankar also had 1100 grams of gold in his hand. The gold brought from Dubai was handed over to 4 people. It is believed that the gold was later smuggled by domestic travelers.

Zarina Abdu, a resident of Kasargod, was found with 3250 grams of gold on a flight from Dubai. It was seized during an inspection by the customs department.

The DRI also found 573 grams of unaccounted gold on a Dubai-Kochi flight. It is suspected that the person who brought the gold may have left it on the plane as he could not bring it out.

Kochi: The trial court has sentenced Sooraj to double life imprisonment in the Uthra murder case. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh for murder under section 302. Seven years ‘imprisonment under section 301 for the destruction of evidence in the case and ten years’ imprisonment for the destruction of evidence with poison. The verdict in the case comes a year and a half after the murder. Judge M Manoj of the Kollam District Additional Sessions Court will pronounce the verdict in the case. The Uthra murder case is one of the most significant cases in the history of criminal investigations in Kerala. It is also one of the rarest cases to be considered. The probe team produced 87 witnesses, 288 documents, and 40 affidavits.

Court proceedings were also expedited after the record-breaking charge sheet was filed. There were heated arguments in court between the plaintiff and the defendant. Defendant Sooraj had repeatedly stated in court that he was not guilty. Advocate Mohanraj is the Government Advocate and Adv. Ajith Prabhav was also present.

Thiruvananthapuram: An absconding office attendant has been arrested in a tax evasion case in the corporation. Sreekaryam police arrested Biju, an office attendant at the Sreekaryam zonal office. Police arrested Biju from the grave this morning.

Biju, who was suspended following a tax evasion controversy, went into hiding. This is the first arrest in the case. The tax evasion took place through three zonal offices, Sreekaryam, Attipra, and Nemam. The audit team had found that about Rs. 33 lakh had been laundered.

The tax-free and non-tax receipts should be deposited in the Municipal Secretary’s account on the next day. But the case is that this amount was beaten without investment. Earlier, the corporation had suspended seven employees in connection with the incident. The corporation had said that no one who paid taxes would lose money.

Nedumbassery: Gold smuggling at Nedumbassery airport again. The airport Customs found gold worth Rs 1. crore from a man from Sharjah. The gold was seized during the inspection. A native of Chennai tried to smuggle the gold. Two gold biscuits weighing more than a kilogram were found. The gold biscuits were hidden under underwear.