One offence, same set of accused, five probe agencies, five courts - This is the peculiarity about the case of gold smuggling via diplomatic baggage, which rocked Kerala. The investigation into the gold smuggling is progressing through five probe agencies of Customs, NIA, ED, CBI and the state Vigilance.
The Customs (Preventive) Wing had intercepted 79kg diplomatic baggage, addressed to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on June 30, 2020. The Customs opened the parcel on July 5 after the External Affairs Ministry contacted the UAE Embassy for securing permission to open the diplomatic baggage. After the seizure of 30kg of 24 carat gold, worth Rs 14.82 crore, the Customs initiated the probe.
The Union Home Ministry tasked the NIA to investigate the foreign links and whether the proceeds from the gold smuggling were used for terror-funding. At this stage, the Customs had completed three days' probe into the case and arrested former Consulate official P S Sarith, who had received the parcel. The NIA began the probe on July 9. On the second day, the NIA arrested main accused Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair from Bengaluru.
As the NIA probe was progressing, unaccounted cash of over Rs 1 crore and gold was seized from the bank locker of Swapna. The ED, which has the authority to seize unaccounted money and probe the source, then registered the case.
Swapna Suresh had claimed that the money in the bank locker was the commission for the Life Mission project. Swapna also deposed that this money was from the commission of Rs 4.48 crore given by the firm, Unitac, which secured the construction contract of the project. The UAE-based Red Crescent had donated Rs 18 crore to build 140 flats at Wadakkanchery as part of the Life Mission project. Swapna's statements put the government on the defensive. Before the CBI could start a probe on whether the officials had taken bribes, the state government announced the Vigilance probe.
After Swapna's revelations, there were allegations that provisions of the FCRA were not followed when Unitac accepted Rs 18 crore from the foreign organisation. That's how the CBI, which probes FCRA violations, began the investigation. Along with the violations, the CBI can also probe whether the officials had taken bribes in the Life Mission project. However, the state government secured a stay from the High Court against the move to arraign Life Mission officials as accused in the case.
