Published 14:35 IST, August 10th 2020
Kerala gold smuggling case: Special NIA court refuses to grant bail to Swapna Suresh
The special NIA court in Kochi dismissed the bail plea of accused Swapna Suresh in Kerala Gold smuggling on the basis of the prima facie evidence and case diary
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With regards to the ongoing investigation on the Kerala Gold smuggling racket, a special NIA court in Kochi dismissed the bail petition of prime accused Swapna Suresh on Monday on the basis of the evidence and case diary. The court rejected the bail plea after observing the prima facie evidence of Swapna Suresh's involvement in the smuggling of gold in Kerala.
"Bail petition dismissed on the basis of the case diary and evidence. There is prima facie evidence that Swapna Suresh was involved in gold smuggling," the court held.
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"It is prima facie clear that the crime was committed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. There is also evidence that Swapna Suresh interfered on the release of cargo. Terrorist activities also include gold smuggling," it observed.
The court accepted the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) submission that the smuggling of gold will impact the economic stability of the nation.
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The court observed that the case diary is evidence that gold was smuggled several times in diplomatic baggage and that the accused knew that this was a threat to the economic security of the country.
"The charges which the NIA imposed will remain the same. 43D (5) of UAPA shall remain in force," it noted.
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During an earlier hearing, the NIA had opposed the bail plea and submitted before the court that Swapna had established a link with the Chief Minister's Office through its former principal secretary M Sivasankar.
It had also submitted that around Rs 1 crore cash and 982.5 grams gold ornaments were seized from two bank lockers of Swapna Suresh during the investigation in the matter.
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The Kerala gold smuggling racket
On July 5, Customs officials seized 30 kg of gold worth Rs.15 crore at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport from a diplomatic cargo addressed to a person in the UAE Consulate. Sarith Kumar, who worked at the UAE Consulate was arrested in this regard. Reportedly, he told the Customs about the role of Swapna Suresh, an ex-Consulate employee now working as the manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited.
The case took a political turn after photos with Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan surfaced. It has been alleged that Suresh has links with the CM and has been seen with him at parties when she was working at the UAE Consulate. Following the backlash over her appointment, she was sacked by the state government. On July 16, Vijayan announced that the suspension of his former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar pending the departmental inquiry. It was reportedly found that he had violated the All-India Services Conduct rules due to his connections with the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling accused.
NIA has registered an FIR in the case, naming Sarith PS, Swapna Suresh, Fazil Fareed, and Sandeep Nair as accused and has alleged that the smuggled gold was not used for jewellery purpose but for funding terror activities.
(With ANI inputs)
14:35 IST, August 10th 2020