Kochi: Swapna Suresh, Sandeep Nair and others had conspired together and separately at various places in Kerala to damage the country’s monetary stability by destabilising the economy by smuggling large quantity of gold from abroad, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said Tuesday. In a report submitted in the Special NIA Court here, the investigation agency probing the sensational Kerala gold smuggling case also said it is suspected that the accused Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair had used the proceeds of smuggling for financing terrorism through various means.
The accused deliberately used the diplomatic baggage of UAE as a cover to transact illegal business and it may have serious repercussions in India’s diplomatic relations with the UAE government and it is prejudicial to the monetary and economic security of India as well, said the NIA which carried out custodial interrogation of Suresh and Nair.
Meanwhile, the NIA custody of Suresh and Nair was extended till July 24 by the Special Court here Tuesday, even as prime accused Suresh moved a plea seeking bail claiming innocence.
Suresh and another accused Sandeep Nair were brought to the special NIA court here as the eight-day custody period granted to the NIA ended Tuesday.
Considering the agency’s plea seeking extension of their custody, the court extended it till Friday.
In its report, the NIA said Suresh has admitted that she along with Nair who is a key accused arrested in the case. The NIA said that the two and other associates hatched conspiracy at different locations in Thiruvananthapuram and had received the proceeds of the crime in cash through another person identified as Sarith.
The proceeds of crime received by Suresh have been invested with various banking and non-banking channels including safe deposit lockers in banks. The details of the accounts have been collected and investigation on the disclosure is in progress, the investigation agency said.
During the investigation, it was revealed that one Ramees KT is one of the kingpins in the case. It added that efforts were being made to get the custody of Ramees, who was arrested by the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate last week.
In her plea seeking bail, Suresh alleged that she was implicated in the crime on a wild imagination without any basis and the case was the offshoot of the political rivalry between the state and central governments, triggered by the colourful and fictitious stories aired by the media. She claimed that there was no prima facie evidence to attract an offence under Sections 15, 16 and 17 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the case being investigated by the NIA.
Suresh and Nair were arrested by the NIA from Bangalore July 11.
