Kochi: Swapna Suresh, a key accused in Kerala's sensational gold smuggling scam, was granted bail by the special court on Economic Offences here on Monday. Bail was granted to Swapna, who was removed from the post of operations manager of Kerala government's Space Park project after her name cropped up in the case, was granted bail in a case registered by the Customs.
Though granted bail, she will not be released from jail as she is an accused in the alleged terror link of the gold smuggling case probed by the National Investigation Agency. She is also an accused in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the money trail of the illegal trade.
Swapna became eligible for bail as the Customs has not filed charge-sheet in the case even after 60 days of registering the case. Swapna was arrested from Bengaluru on July 8.
The special court granted statutory bail to Suresh as the Customs (Preventive) Commmissionerate did not file a charge sheet within the stipulated period of 60 days. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), an accused is entitled to default bail if a charge sheet is not filed within 60-90 days as per the offence. Earlier, the other key accused in the case, including Rameez and Sandeep Nair, were also granted default bail in the case being investigated by the Customs.
Sandeep gives confidential statement
Meanwhile, the Aluva magistrate recorded a confidential statement of Sandeep Nair. The confidential statement was recorded as per an order by the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate's court. It took two hours for recording Nair's statement. Sandeep had moved the CJM court requesting that he be allowed give a confidential statement.
A multi-agency investigation is on into the seizure of 30 kg of gold by the Customs at Thiruvananthapuram Airport on 5 July 2020. The gold worth Rs 14.82 crore was seized from a diplomatic bag that was meant to be delivered to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.
Key accused P S Sarith, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair were arrested shortly after. M Sivashankar, the principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was suspended and removed from the post after preliminary inquiry confirmed that he had links with Swapna.
