Woman wanted in gold smuggling case booked under UAPA: NIA to Kerala HC

A former UAE consulate employee, a key suspect in the offer to smuggle gold through diplomatic baggage, has been booked under the Illegal Activities (Prevention) Act, the NIA reported to the Kerala High Court.

In making the presentation while opposing Swapna Suresh’s early request for bail, the lawyer for the Center and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said she had a criminal record and was “involved” in the organization. of diplomatic documents for the gold smuggling seized by Customs recently.

Interrogation of the woman’s custody was required to determine her role, the NIA attorney, who has been
The Center asked Thursday to investigate the smuggling offer through Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, it said.

After hearing the submissions, Judge Ashok Menon deferred Suresh’s appeal until next Tuesday. The judge rejected the petitioner’s sentence seeking provisional protection against arrest.

Kerala explained gold smuggling | Diplomatic charge, a fugitive woman and a consulate under the scanner

Previously, Suresh had stated that he was working with the consulate “on-demand” and had intervened to obtain the cleared cargo at the request of Acting Consul General Rashid Khamis Al Sheimeili.

In requesting an early bail in the high court on Thursday, Suresh said the charge was directed at Rashid Khamis Al Sheimeili and that it was at his address that he intervened with Customs regarding the delay in releasing the charge. Suresh, who claimed that she had resigned as an executive secretary at the Consulate in September 2019, said that “in fulfilling the official duty, Customs was contacted.” The bail request mentioned that the Consul General returned to the United Arab Emirates in April and that Rashid Khamis Al Sheimeili was named Acting Consul General.

In her request for bail, Suresh said that she had not committed any crime as alleged and was falsely implicated as the key defendant in the matter. She has escaped since Sunday when Customs confiscated gold from the diplomatic cargo at Thiruvananthapuram airport.