Kochi: The accused in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case have given similar statements against the officials at the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. The central agencies are probing if there is any ulterior motive to this, other than to weaken the case.
Accused P S Sarith, Swapna Suresh, Sandeep Nair and K T Ramees in their statements to various probe agencies have raised serious allegations against the Consulate officials. These four were among those arrested initially in the case.
The allegations raised by the accused against the officials could hamper India's diplomatic ties with the UAE. The central agencies suspect it to be a conscious move.
After the Customs intercepted the diplomatic baggage that contained 30kg gold at the Thiruvananthapuram airport, Sarith and Sandeep met at Swapna Suresh's flat in the presence of an advocate, as per the statements of M Sivasankar, former principal secretary to the CM. Sivasankar said that Swapna had told him this.
The parcel was opened on July 5. The accused also tried to assemble at his apartment complex along with the advocate late on July 4, Sivasankar had said.
Foreign currencies smuggled?
The accused had said that UAE Consulate Consul General Jamal Hussain Al Zaabi, administration attache Rashid Khamis Ali Musaiqri Al Sheimeili and finance section head Khalid Mohammed Ali Shoukri had converted large sums of Indian rupees into foreign currency and smuggled these out, the Customs informed the court.
With the help of gold smuggling case accused Swapna and P S Sarith, Khalid Mohammed Ali Shoukri had smuggled the dollars to Cairo via Muscat, as per the occurrence report filed in the case. Swapna also said that Khalid was a confidential aide of the consulate general, as per the report.
Findings of the report submitted at the economic offences court:
* Accused Sarith had helped to ensure that there was no trouble during the security checks at the Thiruvananthapuram airport when Jamal Hussain Al Zaabi and Rashid Khamis Ali Musaiqri travelled to the UAE. Both Sandeep and Swapna had alleged that they had procured foreign currencies through unlawful means. Certain employees of the Consulate are also aware of this, as per the statements of the accused.
* Khalid Mohammed Ali Shoukri had smuggled USD 1.90 lakh (approximately Rs 1.30 crore) to Cairo via Muscat on August 7, 2019, Swapna said. The foreign currencies were allegedly concealed in his hand baggage. Swapna and Sarith had also travelled along with Khalid from Thiruvananthapuram to Muscat on that day. Swapna and Sarith then travelled to Dubai from Muscat.
* Swapna also said that she had seen Khalid checking the hand baggage at the X-ray scanner in the UAE Consulate in Sarith's presence several times. This was done to ensure that the currency won't get detected during the security checks at the airport, as per Swapna's statements. Sarith too concurred with this. As per the statements given by Sarith on October 14, he had used his connections to ensure that there were no hassles during the security checks at the Thiruvananthapuram airport.
