Kerala gold smuggling case: Congress MLA asks CM to widen probe against accused

Congress MLA PT Thomas on Tuesday sent a letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asking him to widen the probe against accused in the high-profile gold smuggling case.

In his letter, Thomas asked Vijayan to widen probe against M Sivasankar, who was the principal secretary to Chief Minister's Office (CMO) and file FIR for making the appointment of Swapna Suresh while using fake certificates. He also sought FIR against Swapna, who is an accused in the gold smuggling case.

In his letter, Thomas asked to probe all the agreements, appointments and consultancy agreements made when Sivasankar was the Principal Secretary to CMO and IT Secretary.

A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday took Sarith PS, a prime accused in the high-profile gold smuggling case, to a flat near the Kerala Secretariat for evidence collection.

According to the NIA probe, the three prime accused in the matter had met and hatched the plan to commit the crime at the flat near the Secretariat.

The NIA had on July 18 taken the other two accused in the matter -- Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair -- to various locations in Thiruvananthapuram for evidence collection, including their residences and the flat near the Secretariat.

The investigation had found that the accused had managed to book the flat with the help of M Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister's Office.

Meanwhile, the NIA has also request Interpol to issue a blue corner notice against Faisal Fareed, another accused in the high-profile case. Earlier, a non-bailable warrant was issued against Fareed by a special NIA court in Kochi.

Three key accused in the matter -- Sarith PS, Swapna Suresh, and Sandeep Nair -- are currently under the custody of the NIA, which is probing the high profile case related to the smuggling of gold through diplomatic channels in the state.

The matter had come to light after 30 Kg of gold worth Rs 14.82 crore smuggled in a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by customs in Thiruvananthapuram, is being probed by the NIA.

( With inputs from ANI )