The Principal Sessions Court, Ernakulam, has directed the investigating officers to produce the main accused in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case, including Swapna Suresh, Sandeep Nair, and P.S. Sarith, before it on Wednesday.
The order was issued on Monday in response to the custody application of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED has initiated a money laundering probe in the gold smuggling case. It will pursue the financial trail in the case, while the National Investigation Agency has been already probing the criminal aspect of the conspiracy to smuggle gold into the country in large quantities from the UAE.
The agency suspects that the proceeds might have been used to finance terror activities. Those involved in the case are suspected to have smuggled in about 250 kg of gold since July 2019.
Meanwhile, the ED has appointed T.A Unnikrishnan as its counsel for the case replacing lawyer Shyjan C. George.
