Kochi: A special court in Kochi granted custody of the two key accused in the sensational gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) till July 21 on Monday.

The NIA had moved an application in the court, seeking the duo's custody for interrogation on Sunday itself. However, the court waited for the COVID test results of the two before handing them over to the central agency for questioning as they were brought to Kerala from Bengaluru.

Their swab samples taken at Aluva hospital in Ernakulam turned negative on Sunday night.

They were lodged in COVID care centres on Sunday. While Swapna was taken to Ambilikkala hostel in Thrissur, Sandeep was taken to Karukutty in Aluva.

The NIA informed the court that the gold smuggling case had terror links and accused the duo of using forged documents of the Consulate to aid their illegal business

They were brought to the state on Sunday, a day after being taken into custody by the NIA in Bengaluru. Swapna and Sandeep were on the run for nearly a week.

Congress and BJP attacked the LDF government, seeking to know how the prime accused could flee the state capital when a triple lockdown was in place to check the coronavirus spread.

Swapna, a former employee of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, and Sandeep are among the four people booked by the central agency in connection with the case of smuggling of the gold which arrived in a diplomatic baggage at the airport and seized by the Customs on July 5.

The vehicles carrying the accused entered the Kerala border by 11am on Sunday. The duo and the probe team had crossed the Walayar checkpost in two cars. But Swapna was shifted to the car carrying Sandeep after the other car ended up with a flat tyre near Vadakkanchery in Thrissur district.

They were then taken to the District Hospital in Aluva for medical checkup and COVID-19 test at 1pm.

They arrived at the NIA office in Kadavanthra, Kochi, at 2:30pm. Police had to resort to mild lathi charge to disperse the protestors gathered outside the NIA office.

At 4:30pm, they were brought to a NIA special court to be presented before the magistrate. Tight security arrangements were made at the court premises. The court remanded them for three days and said that it will consider NIA's plea for custody on Monday.

Swapna and Sandeep were arrested around 7pm on Saturday from a service apartment in Koramangala in Bengaluru by an NIA team from Hyderabad. Their passports and Rs 2 lakh were also seized from them. They were later questioned at the NIA’s office in Domlur in Bengaluru.

Swapna went into hiding on July 5 after a diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE Consulate and containing 30 kg of gold worth Rs 14.8 crore was seized by Customs officials at the Trivandrum International Airport.

P S Sarith, a former PRO at the UAE Consulate, who was dealing with the baggage on behalf of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, was arrested earlier. He had confessed to Swapna’s involvement in the case.

The investigators got to know about Swapna’s location by Saturday afternoon after her daughter switched on the phone. The NIA passed on the information to its Hyderabad unit.

Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the UAE consulate, worked as a consultant in the Space Park project under the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL). She was sacked after her name surfaced in connection with the smuggling case.

Pinarayi said an inquiry will be held into the complaint on the alleged fake degree certificate submitted by Swapna for securing appointment in a government project under the state IT department.

The state government has also removed senior IAS officer M Sivasankar, who was the secretary to the Chief Minister and the IT secretary, following allegations that he had close links with Swapna.