Man on diamond diet' nabbed
The Times of India
A Sri Lankan who had 2,060 pieces of diamonds and other precious stones lodged in his stomach was arrested from the Chennai airport by the central crime branch of the suburban police. The stones, estimated to be worth between Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 3 crore, were recovered.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Chennai suburban police commissioner S R Jangid said he received a call on Tuesday morning from a reliable informant that the man was travelling to Chennai on an Air India flight. "That was the only information available and no other clue, but we zeroed in on him as soon as he came out of the airport and tried to board a taxi,'' he said.
The Lankan, identified as Mohamed Rafi (35), who arrived from Colombo on Tuesday morning, had successfully cleared the customs and immigration. A team led by assistant commissioner of police S Jayakumar picked up Rafi who was carrying two hand bags, but the search of the bags proved futile.
Rafi was then confronted by the sleuths but he maintained that he was innocent. He was even warned that he would be subjected to medical test. The police commissioner said that even during questioning, Rafi could not sit comfortably and when questioned, he told the police that he was suffering from piles. The police, who grew suspicious, took him to Chromepet Government Hospital. When doctors examined him, they found the stones lodged in his gut.
Displaying the stones, Jangid said Rafi had a valid passport and was acting as a human courier and was paid only Rs 10,000 for the job. He had stored the precious stones in 42 condoms and had swallowed all of them. It took the police six hours to retrieve the stones after they fed him with laxatives and bananas.
Rafi is a native of Galle and had done three such runs to Chennai from Colombo in the past but his luck ran out during his fourth attempt. He told the police that he was to book into a lodge in Mannady and that someone was to come over to collect the stones. He told the police that on previous occasions, three persons named Kumar, Rafiq and Sabir had collected the consignments.
V Varadharaju, deputy commissioner of police, said Rafi had confessed to swallowing the stones at 4 am on Tuesday before boarding the 6.30 am flight from Colombo. He would be handed over to the customs who would probe his international links, police said.
