Three smugglers have been arrested and 4kg of gold has been recovered (Representational)
Two Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials were injured in a dramatic car chase behind gold smugglers in Kerala after which three accused were arrested. One of the officials was seriously injured and has suffered a fracture. Both officials have been admitted to a hospital.
The accident occurred outside the Karipur airport in Kozhikode when they were trying to catch a gold smuggling gang that was trying to escape in a car.
The DRI officials, Najeeb and Albert, were chasing the smugglers on a motorcycle when the accused hit their two-wheeler with their car. The car later rammed a tree after losing control.
Three smugglers have been arrested and 4kg of gold has been recovered from them, the Finance Ministry said in a statement today.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has enquired about the health of the injured officials and has asked for all medical facilities to be provided to them, the ministry added in the statement.
The motorcycle was "totally crushed" in the "ambush deliberately carried out" by the smugglers while the officials were trying to intercept their car carrying smuggled gold, news agency PTI reported quoting officials.
Central agency officials probing the cases told news agency PTI they were surprised by the "unprecedented" attack on their men by the members of the gold smuggling syndicate in Kerala.
"Generally, the gold smugglers don't attack us. This is the first time in a gold smuggling case that our men were ambushed by members of the syndicate running the illegal business. Attempts were made to kill our men. They deliberately did that. This is a clear signal for us," a senior officer of a central agency told PTI.
There have been multiple arrests from the gold smuggling syndicate in the state after a sensational case of smuggling through "diplomatic baggage" of a foreign consulate in Thiruvananthapuram came to light earlier this year.
(With PTI inputs)