National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested six people in connection with a diplomatic gold smuggling case in Kerala, a senior official said on August 2, reports sputniknews.com. "Earlier this week [30 July], our team nabbed two accused identified as Jalal A.M. and Said Alavi for conspiring with an already arrested accused Ramees K.T. and for smuggling gold through diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram," an NIA official said on August 2. On 31 July, two more accused identified as Mohammed Shafi and Abdu P.T. were arrested after being accused of playing similar roles in the crime. "On Saturday [1 August], another two miscreants namely Muhammad Ali Ebrahim and Muhammad Ali were apprehended. The investigation revealed that these two were also a part of the conspiracy besides aiding and assisting Jalal in collecting the smuggled gold from Ramees K.T. at Thiruvananthapuram and distributing the contraband amongst other conspirators," the officer said. Muhammad Ali is also a suspected member of the Popular Front of India (PFI).
Officials revealed that during the searches, two hard disks, one tablet PC, eight mobile phones, six SIM cards, a DVD recorder and five DVDs were seized, as well as bank passbooks, credit cards, and travel and identity documents.