After 15 months, the Customs Department on Friday, October 22, submitted a 3,000-page chargesheet in the Kerala gold smuggling case at the economic offences court in Kochi. The case pertains to the smuggling of 30.24 kg of gold through diplomatic baggage that was meant for an official of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. The chargesheet of the controversial case has stated that there is no evidence that the money from the gold smuggling was used for terrorist activities.
The case had caused political turmoil in the state putting the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front government in a spot after the then Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan – M Sivasankar – got arrested by investigation agencies.
Customs have arraigned 29 people as accused in the case. According to IANS sources, the chargesheet has arraigned suspended IAS officer Sivasankar as the 29th accused for failing to take any action despite being aware of the happenings. The 29 people include those who were directly involved in carrying gold, those who bought it and those who acted as agents. The chargesheet also mentions that the probe, did not lead to any evidence of using the money raised through smuggling gold for any terrorist activities.
The smuggling case came to light on July 5, 2020, when the Customs arrested Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate, for allegedly smuggling gold in a diplomatic baggage destined for the Consulate. Swapna Suresh, who was a former employee of the UAE Consulate and a contract staff at state’s Space Park at the time, and Sandeep Nair were arrested by the National Investigation Agency from Bengaluru a few days later. While Sarith is the first accused, Swapna is second and Sandeep is the third accused in the case.
The trio had allegedly been steering the gold smuggling, amounting to a total of 166.882 kg gold, through the diplomatic baggage meant for the UAE Consulate.
After the arrest of Sarith, Sandeep and Swapna, allegations surfaced regarding the close connection of the accused with IAS officer M Sivasankar. Following multiple rounds of questioning by Customs, the National Investigation Agency and Enforcement Directorate – that probes the money laundering angle of the crime – Sivasankar was suspended by the government from his posts. This was followed by his arrest by ED and Customs.
(With IANS inputs)