Kochi: The startling gold-smuggling case that has roiled Kerala politics is under scrutiny for its links to likely terror financing. The accused has been already booked under provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by the national counter-terrorism agency.
The statements given by the wives of P S Sarith, accused no 1, and Sandeep Nair, accused no 4, helped the investigators link the Trivandrum International Airport gold smuggling case to terror-funding, officials said.
The two women had mentioned the names of two other people besides that of Swapna Suresh, a key accused, as being involved in the smuggling. A background check of the two people revealed that the smuggling operations were linked to terror organisations, the investigators said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is also a part of the probe into the case, has opposed Swapna’s anticipatory bail application in the Kerala High Court saying it is probing if funds were being raised for terrorism through gold smuggling. The agency has filed a case under the UAPA in view of this revelation.
The confidential statements of Sarith and Sandeep's wives will be produced before the magistrate. The security of the two women will be strengthened, officials said.
Anti-nationals likely behind racket
The smuggling operation was not just about financial profits, it had much wider anti-national overtone, intelligence agencies IB and RAW have told the Centre.
No gold smuggling gang in Kerala is capable of bringing in such a large quantity of gold through diplomatic parcels, they said. Also, the names that have emerged in the case are not of those involved in gold smuggling, they said.
The investigators have examined the 15 calls the accused in the case had after the parcel containing the gold had reached Thiruvananthapuram. Three of the calls were international.
The confidential information regarding these phone calls provided by the UAE prompted the case to be immediately handed over to the NIA. The role of top officials in the case is also being investigated.
NIA may require Interpol aid
The probe into the gold-smuggling case may pose the NIA immense challenges. Investigation is also likely to prolong over complexities over territorial jurisdiction of the probe agency despite a few changes in Indian law to pursue cases abroad.
The details so far obtained in the case indicate that the smuggling operations extended from Dubai to Thiruvananthapuram. However, the national anti-terror agency will have to confine the probe within Indian soil.
If it has to expand the scope of the investigation beyond India, the NIA will not be able do it directly. It will need the help of Interpol. In India, the CBI is the partner for Interpol.
The CBI will have to approach Interpol on behalf of the NIA. Even then, the NIA cannot question foreigners directly. It has to give the questions in writing and witness the interrogation done by the agency of the foreign country concerned.
At the same time, an amendment introduced by the central government in August last year gives the NIA the authority to expand its investigations to foreign countries with regard to crimes against India or Indians. The Union government also included smuggling under the UAPA.
Probe may extend to CMO
As part of its investigation, the NIA may seek CCTV footage from the Trivandrum airport, former IT secretary M Sivasankaran’s office and many other places. The investigation can also widen to the Kerala Chief Minister’s office and the legislative secretariat.
The NIA has already collected from the Customs the phone call records of the accused over the past one year. The agency will record the statements of all those who were close to the main accused P S Sarith and Swapna Suresh.
Even those not involved in smuggling will be questioned in the coming days over their close association with the accused.
IG wants inquiry into IPS link
Senior officers are in the dark about reports that some IPS officers had links with Swapna Suresh.
A department-level inquiry is needed to look into such reports, crime branch IG Sreejith said in a letter to DGP Loknath Behera.
Behera said he will discuss the matter with the chief secretary Vishwas Mehta and take further action.
The crime branch has been carrying out an investigation against Swapna in a false sexual harassment allegation case. Sreejith is incidentally overseeing the case.
Swapna had accused a ground handling officer at Air India SATS of sexual harassment when she was working with the company as a trainer in 2013.
During interrogations, Swapna had admitted to the crime branch that she had made false allegations. She also said she had produced a woman under a false name before the Air India inquiry committee that was looking into her allegation.
No details on grilling of union leader
Hariraj, the leader of a labour association who is accused of threatening Customs officials for not releasing the diplomatic baggage that contained smuggled gold, was summoned to the Customs Preventive Commissionerate in Kochi for questioning
After the interrogation, he did not respond to media queries. The investigating team also did not reveal any details of the statement.
The questioning of all those who had contacted Customs officials seeking the release of the baggage started on Friday.
