The ongoing tussle between the Centre and Kerala government over the gold smuggling case deepened further after the latter filed a fresh case against the ED. This is the third case filed against the central agency.
The latest case is based on the statement of one of the accused in the smuggling case Sandeep Nair in which he alleged that he was under pressure to implicate the state government and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He is in custody under COFEPOSA (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act).
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The ED approached the high court on Monday to quash the FIR against its officials. In its plea, the agency said its officials were intimidated and it was a ploy to weaken the probe.
The gold smuggling case surfaced in July last year after 30 kilograms of gold was seized from a consignment camouflaged as a diplomatic bag in the UAE consulate in the state capital. Later, many officials were arrested for helping the accused.