Kerala gold smuggling case: NIA gets permission to open bag retrieved from accused Sandeep Nair
Jul 15, 2020
Kochi (Kerala) [India], July 15 : A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Wednesday granted permission to the investigating agency to open the bag of Sandeep Nair, an accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case.
The NIA had retrieved the bag from Sandeep when he was taken into custody from Bengaluru.
On Tuesday, the interrogation of the two accused -- Swapna Suresh and Sandeep -- in the Kerala gold scam was underway at the NIA office in the city. Officials from the Income Tax Department had reached the NIA office in order to interrogate the accused.
The NIA special court in Kochi on Monday had sent Suresh and Nair to NIA custody for eight days until July 21 in the gold smuggling case.
The agency had sought 10 days of custody, but Justice P Krishna Kumar granted only eight days.
The NIA informed the court that the accused forged seal and emblem of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy to commit the crime.
This comes days after 30 kg of gold worth Rs 14.82 crore was smuggled in consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by customs in Thiruvananthapuram.
The case gained national attention after the opposition in the state alleged the involvement of the Chief Minister's Office, as one of the accused reportedly had connections with the Principal Secretary to CMO who was removed from the post.
The NIA has registered an FIR under Sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, against four accused persons, of which three have been arrested.
