22 December Sunday

Gold Smuggling : Centre Disallows Crucial Inquiry; No Permission To Question Consulate Officials

Web Desk(Tvm)Updated: Saturday Sep 19, 2020

 

Kochi : With centre not forthcoming on allowing NIA sleuths  question authorities at UAE consulate, the agency turned to court hoping to be able to quiz higher-up officials there, which it said, was crucial to bringing  out the broader conspiracy in the case. The agency also submitted its plea seeking remand extension for  Swapna Suresh, PS Sarith and KT Rameez.

NIA on Friday submitted its report to  court  stating  the probe so far has not been successful at making any major breakthrough and that despite 2 months, it was still waiting for a  response seeking deportation of the key culprit from UAE. 

NIA’s Friday plea to quiz UAE consulate officials came after centre turned down its requests earlier. Currently several key culprits including Faisal Fareed, Rabeens, Sidhiqal, Akbar and Ahmed Kutty continue to remain in  UAE. The  agency has initiated proceedings to issue non-bailable notices against these men through Interpol, said the report.

The forensic evidences for digital records seized from culprits are crucial to the case. There would be greater clarity on the smuggling operations when culprits are questioned with witness testimonies and digital evidences on the table, NIA said.  The culprits have smuggled in large quantities of gold via diplomatic channel from countries in the middle east, the agency affirmed in its report. .


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