Kerala gold smuggling case: Customs seeks permission from MEA to question UAE attaché

Multiple agencies including the Customs, NIA and ED have been probing the various angles in the sensational Kerala gold smuggling case. Customs department is the one which on the frontlines, starting from finding the illegal smuggling to the role of the official from the UAE consulate.

The initial report filed by customs at the Kerala High Court said that the accused - Sarith, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair have been using diplomatic baggage as their guise to smuggle gold, and that the role of the consulate members should be probed.

Now the agency has zeroed down and has sought permission from the External Affairs Ministry to question UAE attache Rashed Khamis Ali Musaiqri Alshemeli with regard to his involvement in gold smuggling links.

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Detailed interrogation with prime accused

The permission was sought after detailed interrogation with prime accused Sarith, Swapna and Sandeep Nair's statement of the attache's involvement in the smuggling. The accused have allegedly confessed to the investigation team that the attache was paid in dollars for every successful transit of smuggled gold for providing the consulate based papers and other help to use the diplomatic channel and facilitate the deal.

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If the External Affairs Ministry seeks his access based on the request, the onus will be on UAE  to grant access to the attache. This definitely has many ramifications for the diplomatic relationships between both countries. The MEA will seek permission from the UAE government and then the investigation will happen along that angle. 

The agencies have also sought permission to bring back Fareed Fazil, who is the A3 in the case hiding at Dubai, who has allegedly been facilitating the entire plot from Dubai.

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