Kerala gold smuggling case: Court grants default bail to accused Swapna Suresh in ED case

In further relief for Swapna Suresh- the accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, the Principal Sessions Court on Tuesday granted her bail in the case registered by the ED. Though she is already out on bail in the case filed by the Customs department, Suresh shall stay in jail as she also faces the NIA probe. Tuesday's development comes even as the ED filed a chargesheet in the court against Sarith PS, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair. 

Pointing out that she had spent more than 60 days in jail as of October 5, the court stated that Suresh had satisfied all the requirements for obtaining default bail. The ED's argument that the probe is at a crucial stage was rejected. Meanwhile, the Customs Department on October 10 invoked the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act against her and another key accused Sandeep Nair. 

Read: In Kerala Gold Smuggling Case, BJP Claims Clear Indictment Of 'real Goldsmith' CM Vijayan

The ED chargesheet

The gold smuggling scam came to the fore when Customs officials seized 30 kg of gold worth Rs.15 crore at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport on July 5 from a diplomatic cargo addressed to a person in the UAE Consulate. In the chargesheet filed by the ED, there is a reference to CM Pinarayi Vijayan. As per the statement recorded by key accused Suresh on August 7, her appointment as the Operations Manager, Space Park which is a project under Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd. was in the knowledge of Vijayan. However, the Kerala CM had previously stated that he was not personally aware of Suresh's appointment.

Suresh also told the ED on August 8 that she met suspended former bureaucrat M Sivasankar in the presence of the Kerala CM 5 to 6 times during her role as Secretary to the UAE Consul General. Alleging that she was close to Sivasankar, she claimed that he promised to discuss the matter pertaining to her appointment with Vijayan. According to her, she got a call from Santosh, the Special Officer of Space Park thereafter asking her to join.

Additionally, the chargesheet alleged that Sivasankar aided Suresh to open a joint locker facility with his chartered accountant P Venugopal. As per sources, the proceeds of crime are believed to have been stored in the locker. Previously, the NIA seized cash and gold worth Rs.1 crore from the same locker. 

Read: Kerala Gold Smuggling: NIA Reveals That Accused With 'terror Links' Is PFI's Mohammed Ali