Two persons from Mukkam of Kozhikode have been taken into custody by Kerala Police over a complaint by Customs (Preventive) Commissioner Sumit Kumar that some people travelling in a car and some motorcycles were following his vehicle with an intent to harm him, while he was travelling from Kalpetta in Wayanad district on Thursday. The Commissioner is probing the ongoing gold smuggling case in Kerala.
Police said that a case has been registered in Malappuram district on the basis of his complaint. The accused were arrested on the charges of negligent driving and preventing an officer from doing his official duty, among others.
The arrested duo- Jaseem and Thanseem- have however denied this. "We didn't follow that car. Only two cars were there at that time on the road. At first they were behind us, apparently they honked, but we didn't hear it. Later they overtook our car and blocked us and asked why we did not give side and asked why we were following them," they told the media.
According to the police, the persons who are under custody tried to overtake the customs commissioner's vehicle on the road, which the driver did not allow.
Following this, the motorists followed the commissioner’s car on their vehicle. The initial complaint filed by the officer said that some miscreants tried to harm him on the road.
Kumar said that his personnel had filed the police complaint about the incident, which was suspected to be done with an intention to put him in danger. He has also said that the youth were trying to murder him.
According to the police, those in custody have alleged that the incident was harmless.
The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon when he was returning from Kalpetta after inaugurating a customs office there.
Kumar told PTI that his officers noticed the car with the accused while it was passing through a steep road in Koduvally area on Thursday afternoon. This continued for around 23 km till they reached Kozhikode city, Kumar said. He added the Customs department has also launched its own probe into the incident.
There were reports that a few cars and motorcycles followed the customs commissioner, but police said that this was not true. They have taken those travelling in one car into custody. They also deny reports over a conspiracy in the issue, saying that it was an issue of road rage. Police said that there was no intention to murder or harm the officer.