Thiruvananthapuram: The Customs investigating the diplomatic gold smuggling case has filed a complaint to the COFEPOSA board against the order barring its officials from visiting accused Swapna Suresh in the jail.
The Customs complained that the Director General of Prisons & Correctional Services had issued the order in a bid to scuttle the case.
The chief of prisons department had instructed that the permission or the presence of Customs officials was not needed to allow visitors for those booked under the COFEPOSA (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act). Following this, a Customs official, who accompanied Swapna's relatives to the jail on Wednesday, was sent back.
So far to visit those booked under COFEPOSA in jail, the Customs had to be informed in advance and permission was granted to visit for one day in a week and that too in the presence of Customs officials.
However, the law promulgated by the state government in 1975 does not stipulate the permission of any investigating agency or the presence of its officers. Therefore, any meeting with an accused can be allowed as per the prison norms enjoined by the Department of Prisons, Kerala.
The Customs had complained that the jail department's move was to sabotage the gold smuggling case. The friction between the jail department and central agencies arose after an audio clip, purportedly of Swapna Suresh, surfaced recently.
Soon after the chief of prisons issued an order stating that the probe agencies should bring video recording systems to question the accused and the Customs was barred from visiting the Attakulangara jail where Swapna is lodged.
