Gang kidnaps women smugglers from Customs officials, flees with gold

Two airport customs officials, who were heading to a private hospital on Tuesday morning with two Sri Lankan women, suspected of smuggling gold by swallowing the metal, were attacked by a group near Pallavaram, who later escaped with the suspects.  The women were later traced by Pallavaram police on Wednesday.

Customs officials were engaged in checking passengers arriving from Sri Lanka when they intercepted Fathima (46) and Teresa (32) as their stomachs were unusually bloated. During the scan, the officials found that both the women had swallowed bits of cut gold.  

Later that afternoon, Customs Preventive Officers Amruth Tripathi and Renu Kumari took the two suspects in a car to a private hospital in Pallavaram to get the metal out when the attack took place.

“When they were near the hospital, a group of men intercepted their car and attacked Tripathi. On seeing this, Kumari escaped from the spot while the gang fled with the women,” a police officer said.

A team of Airport Customs officials tried to track down the attackers and the suspects until late in the evening but had no luck. Later that night, they filed a complaint with the Pallaravam police.

Early on Wednesday morning, police caught the Fathima and Teresa in Pallavaram.  During inquiry, the women told police that they did not know any of the gang members as they were blindfolded. “The women also said the gang had taken all the gold after giving them laxatives and later released them,” the officer said.

The police handed over the two women to the Airport Customs who are enquiring further.  

Senior customs officials have ordered for an inquiry into the incident to find out why the two customs officers tried to take the suspects to a private hospital. In such cases, the gold should be recovered with the help of a medical team in the airport or they should be taken to Rajiv Gandhi GH or Royapettah GH, sources said.