New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two more persons in connection with the Kerala gold smuggling case. The fresh development arrests took the total number of arrests in the high-profile case to 12, an official said Tuesday.
Sharafudeen, 38, a resident of Malappuram in Kerala and Shafeeq, 31, from the Palakkad district were arrested Monday after their roles in the conspiracy and pursuant smuggling of gold through diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE consulate at Thiruvananthapuram surfaced, an NIA spokesperson said.
During the custodial interrogation of Ramees KT, it was revealed that he was aided and assisted by co-conspirators Sharafudeen and Shafeeq in collecting the smuggled gold from Sandeep Nair at Thiruvananthapuram and further distributing the contraband among other co-conspirators, the official of the premier investigation agency said. Ramees and Nair are both accused in the case. They were arrested earlier.
Sharafudeen and Shafeeq were on Tuesday produced before a special NIA court in Ernakulam which remanded them to four days in the agency’s custody for interrogation, the official said. Further investigation was underway, the official said.
The main person behind the smuggling case has been identified as Swapna Suresh. She was said to be very close to some of the top IAS officers and ministers in the Kerala government. She was arrested a few days back from Bangalore and is currently in the custody of the NIA.
