Kerala Gold Smuggling: Swapna Suresh approaches Kerala HC for bail in NIA case

Prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh moved the Kerala High Court seeking bail on Monday. Suresh approached the court over the case registered by the National Investigative Agency (NIA). She has challenged the NIA Court’s verdict dismissing her bail plea. The HC will hear her plea on Tuesday.

Gold smuggling probe prime accused approaches HC

Swapna Suresh, through advocate Sooraj T Elenjickal, had earlier challenged the verdict of the Special NIA Court in March. The court had dismissed the bail pleas moved by seven accused in the gold smuggling case, including Swapna, Sandeep Nair and KT Ramees. Now, the prime accused has moved to HC regarding the bail. According to her submission, the allegation of NIA would not attract any offence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The accused in her bail submission claimed that the chargesheet did not reveal evidence to connect her with the criminal activity of gold smuggling. The petition also stated that the chargesheet does not disclose the terror angle. She has pointed out that the NIA court went wrong in rejecting her bail plea. The NIA had earlier submitted that the accused act threatened and destabilised the economic security of the country.

Swapna Suresh’s revelations in the Kerala gold smuggling case

According to a document submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Kerala High Court, Swapna Suresh on March 28 had accused the State Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan of calling her to his flat with "personal dirty intentions”. The prime accused said that the speaker had offered her a role in the Middle East College.

Swapna in her affidavit said, "Sreeramakrishnan had called me to the flat in Marutham apartment and told me that it was his hideout. I went there along with Sarith (another accused in the gold smuggling case) to meet him. He told me about the flat's real ownership to convince me to feel safe as he used to call me there with some personal dirty intentions."

"As I didn't agree to his personal interests, the role offered to me in the Middle East College was also dropped. He always kept trying to get close to me as he needed the help of the consul-general for his personal affairs in the UAE," she alleged further. She had also given this statement before the ED Deputy Director, Kochi on December 16, 2020, while at Women's Jail in Thiruvananthapuram.

NIA’s Gold smuggling probe

In January 2020, the NIA filed a charge sheet before the Special Court over the gold smuggling case. The charge sheet claimed that the aforesaid persons had smuggled 167 kg of gold between November 2019 and June 2020 through diplomatic channels. Moreover, it also claimed that the prime accused had planned to smuggle more gold from countries such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. The agency then booked the accused under UAPA.

IMAGE: ANI/ PTI