NIA, National Investigation Agency team on Monday reached Dubai to summon Fazil Fareed, a key accused in the high-profile Kerala gold smuggling case.
Earlier, NIA has registered an FIR in the case, naming Sarith PS, Swapna Prabha Suresh, Fazil Fareed and Sandeep Nair as accused.
Previously, the officials of the Customs Department in Kochi questioned Fareed, who is now in Dubai, via a phone call.
Till now, all three key accused in the case- Sarith PS, Swapna Suresh, and Sandeep Nair- were on August 5 sent to seven-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in link with a money-laundering matter connected to the smuggling.
On July 7 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.
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.
