After nabbing Swapna and Sandeep, NIA hunts for gold smuggling case accused Fazil Fareed

Thiruvananthapuram: With three out of four accused in the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case in custody, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has now intensified its search to nab Fazil Fareed, a suspected gold smuggler.

The name of Fazil Fareed, the third accused in the case, cropped up during the interrogation of another accused P S Sarith.

According to sources, the NIA had received information from intelligence agencies that the large sums of money made through gold smuggling was used to fund anti-national activities by Fazil Fareed and his gang.

The NIA on Friday booked P S Sarith, Swapna Prabha Suresh, Fazil Fareed and Sandeep Nair in the sensational case of gold smuggling through a diplomatic baggage in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala's capital.

Swapna and Sandeep were nabbed from a Bengaluru hideout on Saturday and are being brought to Kochi.

They were slapped with provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Customs officials had seized 30kg of gold, worth Rs 13.5 crore, from a diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5. Sarith, a former public relations officer at the Consulate, was arrested on the same day in connection with the case.

On July 9, the NIA took over the probe as per the directives of Union Home Ministry.

Swapna and Sandeep, who had been on the run since their names cropped up in connection with the case, were taken into custody by the NIA team in Karnataka's Bengaluru on Saturday.

Swapna was a consultant in the Space Park project under the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL). Earlier, she had also worked as a secretary at the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.

Taking over the probe, the NIA had said it took over the 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.