Kochi: Three more persons have been arrested by the Customs in connection with the gold smuggling case at Thiruvananthapuram airport in Kerala.
Jalal from Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam, Mohd Shafi from Malappuram and Hamjad Ali from Kondotty were arrested on Tuesday.
Sarith, the key accused in the case will be produced before the court on Wednesday. His interrogation will be based on information obtained from the interrogation of former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Shivashankar. The two have been in contact through phone fourteen times.
The accused will be produced in the Economic Offences Court on Wednesday.
According to the Customs officials, the accused had delivered gold to the traders.
Sarith, Swapna Prabha Suresh, and Sandeep Nair and Fazil Fareed have been named in the case which relates to the seizure of 30 kg of 24-carat gold worth Rs 14.82 crore at Trivandrum International Airport on July 5 by the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi.
The Customs sleuths had earlier conducted a day-long inspection at the apartment of Swapna Suresh, at Ambalamukku. Meanwhile, Sarith, the first accused in the case, has confessed to having smuggled gold ten times.
Also Read: Kerala Gold Smuggling Case: Ex-official M Sivasankar questioned in customs office for over 9 hours
The consignment was found camouflaged in diplomatic baggage from the UAE that is exempted from inspection as per the Vienna Convention.
The consignment was to be received by Sarith, who had worked in the UAE consulate earlier as a public relations officer.
The case gained national attention after the opposition in the state alleged the involvement of the Chief Minister's Office as one of the accused reportedly had connections with the Principal Secretary to CMO who was removed from the post.
The NIA has registered an FIR under Sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, against four accused persons, of which three have been arrested.
