Kochi: NIA has informed the court that the gold smuggled through diplomatic baggage at Thiruvananthapuram airport was meant to be used for terrorist activities. This was said in the application moved for the custody of Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, who were arrested in the case.
NIA also said that the accused had used fake seal and stickers of UAE for the smuggling.
The court granted custody of both accused till July 21.
Moreover, NIA filed a request in the court to change the third accused, Fazil Fareed’s name and address. Earlier, the third accused in the case was dentified as Fazil Fareed, native of Ernakulam. However, the NIA requested the same to be changed to Faisal Fareed, native of Kodungallur. Customs has also confirmed this to be Faisal Fareed.
It was Faisal who forged the documents. Faisal and team held discussions in this regard in Dubai. Since 2019, they have been smuggling gold using fake seal and stickers. Just before the 30 kg gold seized, 9 kg and 18 kg were smuggled in a similar way.
The gang used Swapna who had experience and relationships in diplomatic sector. A former employee at UAE Consulate, she was well aware of how diplomatic baggage moved in the channel, Faizal and team made used of this expertise, NIA told court.
Meanwhile, NIA has obtained evidences connecting people of various countries to the smuggling. The secret code messages of the mobile phones of the accused points to international links. The gang has smuggled gold to various airports in India. Largescale raids and arrests are expected in coming days.
The day the gold was seized at Thiruvananthapuram airport, 31 kg gold was seized at Jaipur airport which was brought from Ras al Khaimah and Riyadh. Any links between the two will be probed.
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