NIA arrests key accused Swapna, Sandeep in Kerala gold smuggling case

 Kerala gold smuggling case suspects Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair were arrested. The NIA team is taking the accused from Bengaluru to Kochi office via road  

Kochi: Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, key accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, were arrested by the NIA in Bengaluru on Saturday(July 11).

Swapna is among the four accused booked by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the smuggling of 30 kg of gold through diplomatic baggage which arrived at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport.

Swapna, Sarith and Sandeep Nair of Thiruvananthapuram and Fazil Fareed of Ernakulam have been listed in the smuggling case as accused.

The Central agencies including the NIA and the Customs had opposed her anticipatory bail plea in the Kerala high court.

The NIA team is taking the accused from Bengaluru to Kochi office via road. According to reports, the team will reach Kochi by 3pm today (July 12). After taking them to Kochi, NIA will produce them before the court via video conference.

NIA nabbed the two accused who had been absconding for the last six days after tracing their phone calls.

 Sources said that the case suspects Swapna and Sandeep were arrested while they were planning to move to Nagaland. They were making plans to go from Bengaluru to a resort owned by Sandeep’s friend in Nagaland.