Kochi: Swapna Suresh, Sandeep Nair and other accused in the Trivandrum Airport gold smuggling case had conspired together and separately at various places in the state to damage the country's monetary stability by smuggling large quantity of gold from abroad, the National Investigation Agency said on Tuesday.
In a report submitted in the Special NIA Court in Kochi, the investigation agency probing the sensational Kerala gold smuggling case also said it is suspected that the accused 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 Swapna and Sandeep.
Meanwhile, the NIA custody of Swapna and Sandeep, the second and the fourth accused, was extended till July 24 by the special court on Tuesday, even as Swapna moved a plea seeking bail claiming innocence.
They were brought to the court as the eight-day custody period granted to the agency ended today.
In its report, the NIA said Swapna has admitted that she along with Sandeep, Sarith, who is a key accused arrested in the case, and other associates hatched conspiracy at different locations in Thiruvananthapuram and had received the proceeds of the crime in cash through Sarith.
The proceeds of crime received by Swapna 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 Ramees K T, one of the accused, is one of the kingpins in the case, NIA said and added it was making efforts to get the custody of Ramees, who was arrested by the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate last week.
According to the NIA, Ramees insisted on smuggling gold in large quantities during the lockdown period as the financial position of the country was weak. The agency report said that he had contacts abroad.
In her plea seeking bail, Swapna 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.
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 (UAPA) in the case being investigated by the NIA.
A multi-agency probe was initiated after the Customs seized 30kg gold from a diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5.
Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the UAE consulate, and who later worked as a consultant in the Space Park project of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL), which is under the IT Department, was dismissedafter her involvement in the gold smuggling case came to light.
The customs department got to know about Swapna’s role when they questioned P S Sarith Kumar, the former PRO at the UAE consulate. The customs department said Swapna forged documents of the UAE consulate to obtain diplomatic immunity to run her gold smuggling operations.
Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair were arrested by the NIA from Bengaluru on July 11.
So far, central agencies have arrested 15 people in connection with the case.
