Wayanad: Four members of a Kochi-based criminal gang that hacked a gold smuggling-accused in Wayanad were arrested from Kochi on Thursday.
The accused, Kokkarni Parambil Sarath (34), Kandarath Veetil Ahmed Masood (27), Kokkarniparambil Ashbin (28) and Kalamparambil Fahad (28) were taken into custody by team of Meenangadi Police from a hidebout.

The gang is accused of hacking Ashkar, a native of Karani in Meenangadi, at his house in the wee hours last Friday. The police said the hit on Ashkar had been ordered by a gold smuggling racket based out of Dubai.

Ashkar is a criminal, who was slapped with KAAPA (Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act) for his link to a gold smuggling case in which five persons were killed at Ramanattukara in Kozhikode. One of the accused in the case, Ahmed Masood, was also charged under KAAPA and expelled a year from his home district.

The accused told the police that they threw the weapons used for the attack into a river at Kolavayal near Meenangadi. After a search, the police retrieved long knives, double sided dagger, axes and iron rods that the accused had used for the attack.

Inspectors Biju Antony of Meenangadi MA Santhosh of Sulthan Bathery led team that arrested the accused and retrieved the weapons. Police diving expert, CPO K P Shiju recovered weapons from the river. Sulthan Bathery DySP Abdul Shereef monitored the investigation.