The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case before the NIA Special Court in Kochi on Tuesday.
The chargesheet was filed under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against Swapna Suresh, Sarith, KT Ramees and Rabins K Hameed who among the 20 people arrested in the case. Fourth accused in the case, Sandeep Nair has turned approver and his name has been excluded from the chargesheet. In September 2020, Sandeep filed a petition stating that he was willing to reveal all details regarding the gold smuggling scam under 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Reportedly, the NIA managed to file the chargesheet on the last day of the 6-month period. Under the UAPA, the time limit to file a chargesheet can is 100 days but can be extended to 180 days. If a chargesheet isn’t filed within the stipulated time (180 days), then the accused will be given natural bail.
The NIA filed the chargesheet under sections 16, 17 and 18 of UAPA which issues punishments for terror activities. However, it is still unclear if the Agency has managed to get evidence whether the accused used the returns gained from gold smuggling for terrorist/anti-national activities. Earlier, the NIA court asked the Agency to bring forward evidence of terrorist activities relating to the case. The NIA is still awaiting the extradition of gold smuggling mastermind Faisal Fareed from the UAE to get further evidence. The NIA has not named him in the chargesheet.
Former Principal Secretary to Chief Minister M Sivasankar’s name is also not included in the chargesheet as the NIA informed the special court that they had no plans of adding his name to the case.
Earlier, the Ernakulam Economic Offences Court has rejected the bail plea submitted by Sivasankar. The Court observed that prima facie it is evident that Sivasankar was involved in the smuggling. Sivasankar was arrested by the Customs on November 24, 2020.
According to reports, the co-accused has given a strong statement against Sivasankar. It is clear from the statements that high-rank individuals were involved in the crime. The Court also said that Sivasankar's contention that only the statements of other accused were against him would not stand any more. The court also ruled that Sivasankar was not cooperating with the investigation.
On Tuesday, the Customs informed the court that Sivasankar has travelled seven times to UAE with Swapna. While opposing the bail petition filed by Sivasankar, the Customs official told the Ernakulam Economic Offences Court that the duo stayed in five-star hotels all the seven times when they travelled to the United Arab Emirates and Sivasankar had paid the accommodation expenses. They even stressed that these trips had hidden intentions and a senior IAS officer making these many trips to the same country is highly unusual.
The Customs counsel said that the gold smuggling activities conducted by Swapna with the support of Sivasankar have affected the relationship between India and UAE.
Meanwhile, Sivasankar had claimed that he was ill since 2015 and there is no evidence against him in the case registered by the Customs. However, the Court then adjourned the verdict on Sivasankar’s bail petition.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had attached Sivasankar’s assets worth Rs 1 crore in connection with the money laundering case.
The gold smuggling scam came to light on July 5, 2020, after the customs found 30kg of gold hidden in a consignment addressed to UAE consulate was opened at Thiruvananthapuram International airport. Central agencies starting with the NIA filed a case under UAPA, followed by the ED launching a money-laundering probe. The scam has rocked Kerala.
