NEW DELHI: The passport of Faisal Fareed, a key person in the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case, has been cancelled by the Union Ministry of External Affairs following directions from the Customs department. This is to stop him from moving out of the UAE.

Meanwhile, the UAE has not responded to India's letter to question UAE consulate attache Rashid Hameez, who fled India. He left India after the NIA and Customs powered up their investigation.

The diplomatic with the smuggled gold came in attache's name. Attache also pressurized to stop the opening of baggage. The accused in the case requested at the NIA court to probe the involvement of the attache.