Kerala gold smuggling case: Secretariat CCTV visuals to be handed over to NIA

Kerala gold smuggling case: Secretariat CCTV visuals to be handed over to NIA
Kerala Secretariat

Thiruvananthapuram: The CCTV visuals at the offices of the Chief Minister and M Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to the CM, will be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the gold smuggling case.  Along with this, the footage of two blocks at the Secretariat annexe will also be collected. The process of copying the visuals has begun and it would take 10 days to transfer all the footage.

The CCTV footage of the past one year at Minister KT Jaleel's office at the annexe will also be collected. This is to check if gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh had been to the minister's office.

The NIA will also check the visuals of the Consulate. Apart from these, videos of all government functions in which Swapna had participated will also be collected.

Also, videos of a car workshop inauguration by Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan will be sought. This car workshop at Nedumangad is owned by Sandeep Nair, another accused in the case. Swapna had also participated in this inauguration.

Though videos and CCTV visuals do not constitute the main evidence, these are expected to be helpful during questioning.

A multi-agency probe was initiated after the Customs seized 30kg gold from a diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram earlier this month. The Union Home Ministry had directed the NIA to take over the probe. Sivasankar was also suspended from service over his alleged association with smuggling case accused.

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