UAE Consulate Kerala Police security officer goes missing

Thiruvananthapuram : Adding more confusion in the now controversial gold smuggling case, a Kerala police officer attached to the UAE Consulate has gone missing since Thursday night, said police officials.

Speaking to the media here on Friday, senior police official Anil Kumar confirmed that Jayaghosh, a security official of the Kerala Police posted at the UAE Consulate here has been reported missing since Thursday night.

"The probe has begun and the dog squad will also be put into service. We are waiting for his call records to take forward the probe," said Anil Kumar.

The relatives of Jayaghosh said he was feeling unsafe and jittery as he was threatened by some unknown people.

Reports have now surfaced that Swapna had called Jayaghosh early this month a few times.

In a related development, the UAE attache in the Consulate left here and reached Delhi and from there he has flown back to his home country.

The gold smuggling case which has large scale ramifications first surfaced when P. S.Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, was arrested by the Customs on July 5 when he was facilitating smuggling of 30 kg gold in diplomatic baggage to Thiruvananthapuram from Dubai.

It turned murkier when the name of Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here and employed with the state IT Department, surfaced. The case turned full circle when their links with the second most powerful person in the Chief Minister's office -- his Principal Secretary M. Sivasankar, were revealed.

Along with Sivasankar, another top official in the IT department, Arun Balachandran, has also been removed.