UAE Ex staff has been detained in Kerala as they are connected with gold smuggling case. One of the accused is identified as Swapna Suresh and she was an executive secretary at the UAE consulate.
Swapna is not alone in smuggling. Swapna along with Sarith are under custody.
The duo in every transaction earns 2 lakh rupees.
Swapna Suresh.
At Thiruvananthapuram airport, the Custom officials had seized 30 kg of gold from the diplomatic baggage.The baggage was supposed to have food items . But later Custom officials checked the baggage after getting necessary approval from the ministry of external affairs.
Then the officials took Sarith ( former PRO at UAE consulate) into custody. Further, it was disclosed that Sarith is no longer an employee at the UAE consulate . But still after his dismissal, he continued introducing himself as PRO at UAE consulate.
While Swapna is working at KSIT in their IT department as an operations manager.
The customs officials said that they suspected smuggling syndicate had misused the name of a person who enjoys diplomatic powers.
Another senior Custom official said that the investigation will also look into the role of other employees of consulate.
“The Embassy of the UAE in India condemns the attempted misuse of diplomatic channels by an individual engaged in smuggling activity. The embassy firmly rejects such acts and unequivocally affirms that the mission and its diplomatic staff had no role in this matter,” the UAE embassy said.
“Right now we are investigating how can unauthorized people be associated with official clearance of the diplomatic cargo. How come former employees of the consulate handled the consignment, who sent it from outside and whom it was meant to be given to”, the official said.
