Gold Smuggling case Gets Murky, Alleged Smuggler Files Case in High Court

· IAS Secy to CM Kerala Implicated

· Big Fish in UAE are the Owners of the Gold, Swapna and Suresh are Small Fry

Casual UAE Consulate Employee Swapna Suresh, currently on the run, she continued to work closely with the consulate under 'work on request basis'. Swapna Suresh, the woman suspected by the Customs department to have played a key role in the gold-smuggling racket at the Thiruvananthapuram airport, filed an application for anticipatory bail before the Kerala High Court. She claimed to represent Rashid Khamis Al Shameli, who holds acting charge of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.

The case relates to seizure of 30 kilogram gold valued at Rs. 150 crores from a diplomatic cargo addressed to the UAE Consulate-General Office in Thiruvananthapuram last week.

She had resigned from the consulate in September 2019 and joined PricewaterhouseCoopers as a contractual staff.

On June 30, she claimed she was directed by Al Shameli to check with Customs regarding the delay of his consignment to Thiruvananthapuram from UAE.

On 1/7/2020 at about evening, the Consul General of UAE has received an email in the office of the Assistant Commissioner Customs, air cargo complex, Thiruvananthapuram requesting the presence of his Excellency for the verification of the diplomatic cargo at 11 am on 3/7/2020. Thereafter, the Consul General of UAE went to the cargo complex and verified the cargo and admitted before the Customs authority that the said cargo belongs to him,” the petition read.

Later, Suresh claimed she was asked to prepare a letter to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs seeking the “re-export” of the cargo. On July 5, the cargo was opened by Customs officials in the presence of those from the UAE consulate in which 30 kilograms of gold, valued at Rs 15 crore, was found concealed along with some food items.

The same day, Saith Kurmar, who previously worked as a PRO with the UAE Consulate, was arrested by Customs officials in connection with the smuggling of gold. Kumar, during questioning, named Suresh as an accomplice.

“The petitioner is living with her family consisting of her husband and two children, the younger son who is studying in third standard and an elder daughter who is studying for the second year degree course. The petitioner belongs to a respectable family and has no criminal antecedents. Moreover, the accused is a lady who undertakes before this honourable court that she has no intention to flee from justice.”

Suresh’s alleged role in the gold smuggling racket and her connections to former principal secretary M Sivasankar, under whom she worked as a contract staff with the state government’s flagship Space Park project, has snowballed into a major controversy in Kerala. Opposition parties like the Congress and the BJP charge that the office of the chief minister is linked to the racket and have demanded the resignation of Pinarayi Vijayan.

The case is currently being probed by the Customs department with only the arrest of Sarith Kumar recorded so far. The involvement of a top trade union leader in the case is also under the scanner.

Central agencies have sought the "assistance" of Kerala police in finding out the whereabouts of a woman, a former employee of a foreign country's consulate in the state, wanted in connection with the sensational gold smuggling case.

Sources privy to the development told PTI that central agencies have "written" to the state police seeking its "technical assistance" in tracking down two absconding persons--a woman and her friend-- who are wanted in connection with the case.

The Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had on Wednesday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his "intervention for an effective investigation" into the seizure of gold worth crores of rupees from a "diplomatic baggage" at Thiruvananthapuram international airport.

The case shows that there is a definite connection between big interests in UAE and the misuse of diplomatic immunity. Indian Customs has an officer posted in Dubai/Abu dhabi who keeps an eye on gold movements.

The airport authorities too watch consignments. No Indian syndicate has the power to label gold consignments as UAE Government origin and get it passed through the watchful eye of UAE customs. The matter misuse of diplomatic bag has to be taken up at the Government to government level. Swapna and Sarith Kurmar are small fry in an ocean of whales and sharks.