Kochi: Swapna Suresh, the key accused in the sensational gold smuggling case who is still on the run, has moved the high court for anticipatory bail.
She made an online application for the anticipatory bail on Wednesday night. Every day, the court considers the bail applications filed before afternoon the previous day.
In her bail application, Swapna has indicated that she has no direct or indirect links to the gold smuggling racket.
She was only involved in the work allotted to her by the UAE consulate, the application said.
As a contract employee at the Consulate, she is required to coordinate the logistics of consignments.
She merely directed the customs to release the consignment in accordance with the instructions issued by the Consulate General Rashid Khamis Al Shameli, Swapna says in the application.
The letter to release the parcel was issued following this. She is unaware about the contents of the concerned parcel.
She also adds that she is still employed by the Consulate.
Swapna also said that she applied for the bail application since she had nothing to reveal to the investigation team.
The case has taken serious proportions as the three main investigating agencies in the country — CBI, NIA, ED — are carrying out simultaneous inquiries into various aspects, including financial transactions, international involvement, and national safety.
Trade Union leader's support for smuggling ops
Investigations into the gold smuggling operations exposed at the Trivandrum International Airport have indicated that a trade union leader with political connections and control over customs clearance agents may have helped Swapna, run the operations.
The leader was the first person to call the Customs Department after it seized the 30 kg of gold that was being smuggled into Kerala in a diplomatic baggage on Sunday.
He may have helped Swapna escape from Thiruvananthapuram, the investigators suspect.
Customs officials said there are indications that the trade union leader had alerted Swapna after the smuggling attempt was exposed.
When the baggage with the gold was seized on Sunday, he told the Customs department that it was covered by diplomatic immunity and that officials could lose their jobs if they opened it.
When the department did not relent, the union leader, a native of Kochi, called up officials at the UAE Consulate and got them involved directly.
He had also attempted to have the parcel sent back to the UAE before it was opened.
The union leader became agitated when he could not get the parcel released and this made the Customs officials suspect that the baggage contained something illegal like gold.
The department is keeping an eye on the Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi residences of the trade leader.
Sandeep Nair, an accomplice of Swapna Suresh in the smuggling operations, used to visit him at his home often, officials said.
The leader has high political connections and he also had great control over customs clearance agents, they said.
All the parcels addressed to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram were being released from the airport under his supervision.
The car that he used often has disappeared after the smuggling operations were exposed, making Customs officials’ suspicion of his involvement in the case stronger.
They have not dismissed the possibility of Swapna or Sandeep having used the car to escape from Thiruvananthapuram.
