Kerala Gold smuggling case: Accused Faisal Fareed, Rabins arrested in Dubai says NIA

In a major development, Faisal Fareed and Rabins accused in the high-profile Kerala gold smuggling case, have been arrested in Dubai, National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in its affidavit submitted in a Kochi court. The UAE administration officially confirmed the arrest of Faisal Fareed, said NIA.

The two key conspirators had hatched the smuggling plot in Dubai. A 'Blue Corner' notice has also been issued against six — Faisal Fareed, Rabbins Hameed, Siddique Akbar, Ahmadkutty, Ratheesh and Mohammad Shameer — accused via Interpol.

The confirmation of the arrest was made in an affidavit opposing the bail pleas of the accused in the gold smuggling case. The NIA also told the court that the masterminds of the gold smuggling were Mohammad Shafi and KT Ramees.

A case diary detailing the progress of the NIA investigation was also submitted to the court. Meanwhile, the court will consider the bail application of the accused tomorrow.

On Monday, the NIA court in Kochi issued an ultimatum to the agency directing it to produce evidence against the accused in the 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.

On Monday, 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 | Kerala Gold Smuggling: Court Asks NIA To Substantiate Evidence, Hints At Granting Bail

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. 

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