Customs on Saturday invoked the provisions of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA) Act against Sandeep Nair and Swapna Suresh, the key accused in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case.
The national advisory board of the COFEPOSA approved the proposal submitted by the investigating team. The accused can be detained in prison for one year under the provisions of the Act. The Customs had decided to impose the Act after it found that the accused were involved in smuggling on multiple occasions.
Sivasankar interrogation
The interrogation of M. Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in connection with the gold smuggling case continued for the second consecutive day at the Customs office here. He appeared before the officials at 10.30 a.m. The interrogation was progressing at the time of filing of this report.
“We may have to question him for a day or two more as certain clarifications are required,” said a top source from the department. He said they were trying to corroborate certain “technical evidences” with him.
“However, considering that there were cases pertaining to the import of dates, the Koran and previous instances of suspected gold smuggling, senior officials of other departments will also have to be questioned and not just the officials,” the source said.
The conditional exemption granted to the UAE Consulate was for a period of three years during which if what got imported was diverted without payment of duty and without the knowledge of the Ministry of External Affairs, that amounted to a gross violation and those who aided this were abetting duty evasion,” the source added.
