Kerala Gold Smuggling case: NIA court directs DGP to provide security to accused Sarith PS

A special NIA court in Kerala directed the DGP Prisons on Saturday to provide protection to Sarith PS, an accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case. The court was hearing the petition filed by Sarith PS alleging that he was being tortured in prison by three policemen, including the Superintendent of Poojappura Central Prisons.

On the other hand, the Superintendent claimed that Kerala gold smuggling accused Sarith PS and Ramees KT are not following prison rules. He submitted a report before Special NIA Court, Principal Sessions Court, and Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) Court in Kochi.

As per the Superintendent's report, "Ramees was seen smoking something in the backyard of the prison building. When Ramees was smoking, Sarith stood in front of the cell to observe whether any officials are coming towards the area. The CCTV visuals confirmed this fact. Ramees had received a parcel a few days back. It is observed that some items banned in the prison were found in his parcel. Noticing this, the prison officials refused to hand over the parcel to Ramees. An argument broke out between Ramees and the officials over the incident. The report was prepared after examining CCTV visuals on July 5."

Sarith and Ramees are currently logged in the Poojappura Central Prison at Thiruvananthapuram. 

Kerala gold smuggling case 

On July 5, 2020, 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 PS who worked at the UAE Consulate was apprehended in this regard. Subsequently, Swapna Suresh, an ex-Consulate employee working as the manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited, and M Sivasankar, the ex-Principal Secretary to Kerala CM were also arrested in this case.

In January 2020, the National Investigation agency filed a charge sheet before the Special Court. Claiming that the conspiracy started in June 2019, the agency alleged that the aforesaid persons raised funds and smuggled 167 kg of gold between November 2019 and June 2020 through the import cargo addressed to diplomats at the Consulate General of UAE in Thiruvananthapuram. Furthermore, it added that the main accused had planned to smuggle more gold from countries such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.

(With inputs from agency)