Chennai: In a major twist, the high profile Kerala gold smuggling case has links with Tamilnadu with three persons being arrested in Chennai by NIA.
The investigating team found that at least three agents were working in tandem with the smuggling accused Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair. The role of the agents was to find buyers for the smuggled gold.
The NIA DIG K B Vandana had come to Chennai on 31 July. After holding discussions with a few former Customs Officials, her teams fanned out to parts of Tamilnadu for investigations.
In Tiruchirappalli, the NIA team arrested three men. They had allegedly facilitated the sale of smuggled gold in the past. The team said that the trio have already found prospective customers.
Follwing this, the team also raided two jewellery shops in Tiruchirappalli. The accused will be brought to Chennai for further interrogation.
It is said the NIA team led by the DIG has visited Bengaluru for an inquiry regarding the case.
It may be noted that the agency has so far arrested 10 people including key accused Sarith PS, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair.
The case has made political storms in Kerala after senior IAS officer M Sivasankar was reportedly contacted by Swapna Suresh.
Sivasankar was serving as the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He is currently suspended from service and removed from officials positions. In the past few days he was repeatedly summoned by NIA for questioning.
The controversial smuggling case of nearly 30 kilograms of gold, worth Rs 14.82 crore was caught at the Thiruvananthapuram airport. Swapna and Sandeep are in NIA custody until 21 August.