The two key accused in the gold smuggling case in Kerala, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, have been remanded in custody for 14 days by National Investigation Agency special court, today.
Sources said they will be lodged in COVID-19 care centres till the coronavirus test results are declared. Earlier in the day, the duo, who had been on the run for a week and were nabbed from Bengaluru on Saturday, were taken to the District Hospital in Aluva for medical checkup and COVID-19 test. They arrived at the NIA office in Kochi in the afternoon and were presented before the magistrate in the evening.
After the interrogation by NIA, they might be handed over to the Customs department for further probe.
NIA, on July 11, arrested them from a service apartment in Koramangala in Bengaluru, in connection with the bid to smuggle over 30kg of gold using diplomatic channel through the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. Their passports and Rs 2 lakh were also seized from them. They were later questioned at the NIA’s office in Domlur in Bengaluru.
Swapna, a former employee of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, and Sandeep are among the four people booked by the NIA in connection with the case of smuggling of the gold which arrived in a diplomatic baggage at the airport and seized by the Customs on July 5.
Swapna, Sarith and Sandeep Nair of Thiruvananthapuram and Fazil Fareed of Ernakulam have been arraigned as accused in the case by the NIA, which along with the Customs, has opposed the anticipatory bail plea of the woman in the High Court.
Sarith, also a former emplyoyee of UAE consulate, has already been arrested by the Customs (Preventive) Department.
The NIA had, on Friday, registered the FIR under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and said it has taken upthe probe as the case has international linkages and as the initial inquiries have revealed the proceeds of the smuggled gold could be used for financing terrorism in India.
Also, as the case pertains to smuggling of a large quantity of gold into India from offshore locations, threatening the economic stability and national security of the country, it amounts to a terrorist act as stated in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The development came two days after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his "intervention for an effective investigation" amid the opposition demand for a CBI probe.
(With PTI inputs)
