1 kg gold, Rs 1 crore recovered from gold smuggling accused

Investigation agencies have recovered around Rs 1 crore in cash and nearly one kilogram of gold from one of the key accused in Kerala gold smuggling case Swapna Suresh.

According to a remand report submitted by the NIA at the special court in Kochi on Friday, Rs 1.05 crore and gold ornaments weighing 982.5 gram were recovered from two bank lockers.

Read: NIA taking Kerala CM Vijayan's former principal secretary's statement in gold smuggling case

While the gold was believed to be presented by her parents and relatives for her marriage and other occasions, the cash was suspected to be earned from gold smuggling.

The report also said that Ramees K, who is the kingpin of the racket, was suspected to be involved in unlawful activities that posed a threat to national security.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former principal secretary M Sivasankar is likely to be questioned by the NIA again in the gold smuggling case.

Also Read: Kerala: UAE consulate gunman's house raided in connection with gold smuggling

According to sources, the NIA has summoned Sivasankar to Kochi next week for further questioning. He was quizzed for nearly five hours in the state capital on Thursday. The Customs had also questioned Sivasankar last week.

According to sources, though there was no evidence against Sivasankar’s involvement in the gold smuggling activities, the investigation agencies are trying to get details about his connections with accused Swapna Suresh, who was a former employee of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.

Also Read: Swapna Suresh and other accused conspired to destabilise country's economy by smuggling gold:NIA

Customs sources said so far there was no evidence to implicate Sivasankar in the smuggling case.

The report also said that Ramees K, who is the kingpin of the racket, was suspected to be involved in unlawful activities that posed a threat to nation's security.