Sandeep's mobile, bag hold clue to handlers of racket: NIA

Sandeep's mobile, bag hold clue to handlers of racket: NIA
Sandeep Nair with NIA officials in NIA's Kochi office Sunday. Photo: Manorama

Kochi: After arresting Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, the two main accused in the Trivandrum Airport smuggling case, and getting their custody, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is now trying to get details of their handlers.

The NIA believes that an examination of the bag and mobile phone that were seized from Sandeep when he was arrested will lead to those higher up in the hierarchy.

Officials said they have found evidence in the bag that could lead to anti-national forces.

When he was arrested, Sandeep had a bag that had 'Mohesr' written on it with a seal, the NIA said. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government is headquartered in Abu Dhabi.

The agency has made an application to the NIA special court to open the bag under its supervision.

The NIA said the accused had used fake UAE stamps and symbols in their smuggling operations. The gold they smuggled was not used for making jewellery but for anti-national activities, it said.

Faisal Fareed, the third accused in the case, forged the stamp. The anti-national conspiracies were being hatched in Dubai and the accused have been smuggling gold since 2019, the NIA said.

Caught in third bid

Sandeep's mobile, bag hold clue to handlers of racket: NIA
Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair in NIA's custody in Bengaluru on Saturday.

They had smuggled gold at least twice earlier, before trying to bring in the 30 kg of the precious metal that was seized on July 5. The first time, they had smuggled 9 kg gold and, the second time, the quantity had doubled to 18 kg, the NIA said.

The smuggling case was unearthed on July 5 after Customs officials found 30 kg gold in a diplomatic baggage addressed to an official in the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. A former PRO of the consulate, P S Sarith Kumar, was arrested that very day in connection with the case. He is the first accused in the case.

Swapna, the second accused, and Sandeep, the fourth, were on the run for about a week. They were nabbed by the NIA from Bengaluru on Saturday.

The special court has remanded Swapna and Sandeep in the custody of the NIA till July 21 after their COVID-19 test results turned out to be negative.

K T Ramees, a gold smuggler who was arrested on Sunday from Malappuram, has also been remanded in custody till July 27 by an economic offences court. He has been lodged in the COVID care centre at Karukutty in Angamaly.

Investigators believe that Ramees and Sandeep have know each other for a long time. It was Ramees’ idea to smuggle gold using diplomatic baggage, they said.

Sandeep's mobile, bag hold clue to handlers of racket: NIA
KT Ramees, who was arrested on Sunday in connection with the gold smuggling case.

Ramees, who belongs to Vettattur Kappu in Perinthalmanna, has had many cases against him. Officials had suspected his involvement in many cases of gold smuggling through airports in Kerala since 2014. He was also accused of trying to smuggle guns and rifles through the Nedumbassery airport in Kochi.

He was also accused of smuggling parts of rifles along with air guns in 2019. He was even booked for poaching earlier.

Hunt on for Faisal Fareed

The NIA has requested the court to change the name of the third accused in the case to Faisal Fareed, a native of Moonnupeedika village, Kaipamangalam, in Thrissur’s Kodungallur. In their earlier reports in the case, both the Customs Department and the NIA had mentioned the name as Fazil Fareed.

The Customs, meanwhile, refuted the claims that the wrong picture and video footage of Faisal Fareed are being splashed across the media. 

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