Thiruvananthapuram: A team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) will soon travel to Dubai to question key accused Fazil Fareed in the Kerala gold smuggling case.
NIA has registered an FIR in the case, naming Sarith PS, Swapna Prabha Suresh, Fazil Fareed and Sandeep Nair as accused.
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Meanwhile, a Kochi court on Friday reserved for August 12 its order on the bail plea of Swapna Suresh, the key accused in the gold smuggling case.
During an earlier hearing, the NIA had opposed the bail plea and submitted before the court that Swapna had established a link with the Chief Minister's Office through its former principal secretary M Sivasankar.
It had also submitted that around Rs 1 crore cash and 982.5 grams gold ornaments were seized from two bank lockers of Swapna Suresh during the investigation in the matter.
The matter, which pertains to the smuggling of gold in the state through diplomatic channels, had come to light after 30 kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crores, smuggled in a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage, was busted by customs in Thiruvananthapuram.
(ANI report)