NIA probes Swapna’s link to TN gold smuggling cases

Probing the Kerala gold smuggling case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought details of cases involving smuggling of large quantities of gold from officials here to verify if Swapna Suresh, one of the accused in the case, was part of any international network operating in Tamil Nadu as well.

migrator

Updated:29th Jul, 2020 at 8:39 AM

Chennai

The agency is mainly looking for major seizures by central agencies, particularly the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). “NIA has sought details of two cases in Chennai: the seizure of 20.6 kg gold by DRI in which four persons from Choolaimedu were arrested in January 2019, and another involving two foreign women, who were arrested along with the gold,” sources said, adding that these details could be sought to examine if Swapna is part of any larger network.

Swapna and associates – former employees in the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram – are accused of smuggling gold worth Rs 15 crore through diplomatic baggage using the name of a person in the consulate on July 5.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was entangled in the scam after it was found that Swapna allegedly had links with a principal secretary in his office. The NIA is probing if the smuggling was carried out to fund terror.

NIA probes Swapna’s link to TN gold smuggling cases

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