Kerala gold smuggling: Court asks NIA to substantiate evidence, hints at granting bail

On Monday, the NIA court in Kochi issued an ultimatum to the agency directing it to produce evidence against the accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case. The court warned the NIA that it may grant bail to some of the accused persons if the agency fails to substantiate the charges against them. Hearing the bail petitions filed by the accused, the NIA was directed to not only produce the case diary on Tuesday but also submit the list of people who profited from the gold smuggling operation. 

After the NIA took over the case, it registered an FIR against Sarith Kumar, Swapna Suresh, Fazil Fareed, Sandeep Nair, and others. Various sections of the UAPA were slapped against the aforesaid individuals. The NIA has alleged that the smuggled gold was not used for jewellery purposes but for funding terror activities. In a major breakthrough earlier, Nair agreed to become an approver in the case. 

Read: Kerala Gold Smuggling Case: Probe Agencies Doing Professional Job, Says MoS Muraleedharan

What is the Kerala gold smuggling case?

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 working as the operations 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 gold smuggling accused. 

Earlier in the day, Suresh was granted bail by the Economic Offences Court in Kochi in the case filed by the Customs department. She secured bail because of the failure of Customs to file a charge sheet in 60 days. However, she will continue to remain in jail as owing to the NIA case against her.

Read: CPI(M) To Resist CBI Intervention; U-Turn Over CM's Statement On Gold Smuggling Case