Kerala: Police yet to nab gang who kidnapped expat from his house; Search intensifies

Kozhikode: The Kerala Police investigation has not yielded any results even after two days have passed since the abduction of an expat from his house. The police have not received any tip-off about Parappanpoyil native Muhammad Shafi's abduction. He was abducted on March 7 around 9 pm by an unknown gang of miscreants.

The case is being investigated by five police teams from the districts of Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Wayanad. Several people were questioned by the police related to hawala and the smuggling of gold, but nothing was found.  Shafi may have been kept in a hideout, according to the police.

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Shafi was viciously assaulted by the criminals who came in their vehicle, threatened him with weapons, and thrashed him. The police investigation was expanded to other districts after checking at the locations of the mobile towers and the CCTV recordings, but Shafi could not be located. The initial phase of the police inquiry concentrated on the Dubai-based financial transaction. Two of them in connection with this remain in police custody.

The rural SP and his team stayed in Thamarassery until 4 am while calling members of the quotation gangs to the station for questioning. The police learned from this that the groups involved in the smuggling of gold are connected. They disclosed that Shafi was associated with such groups in Saudi Arabia and was likely the motivation behind the kidnapping.

Also, they disclosed Shafi's three-year-old attempt to smuggle gold from other gangs at the Saudi airport. P Vimaladitya, DIG for the North Region, reached Thamarassery to evaluate the status of the investigation and look for any signs of a link to gold smuggling. Shafi's wife admitted that she only knew the car's number and not its registration. Consequently, the hunt for the white Swift with the number 7001 has been ramped up.

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