Kerala police file fresh case against ED, its third against the central agency

The sensational gold smuggling case surfaced in July last year after 30 kilograms of gold was seized from a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage in the UAE consulate in the state capital.

The ongoing tussle between the Centre and the Kerala government over the gold smuggling case deepened further after the latter filed a fresh case against the Enforcement Directorate (ED)—the third case so far against the central agency.

Last month, the Customs department had filed a shocking affidavit in Kerala High Court quoting Swapna Suresh’s statement under Section 164 of the IPC wherein she alleged that the CM, three of his ministers and the Speaker were aware of the smuggling activities through the consulate. (PTI PHOTO.)

Besides these three cases, the state government had also announced a judicial probe against the ED. The latest case was 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. Detained under Cofeposa, he is in custody now.

The ED had 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 gold smuggling case. Earlier, the crime branch had registered two cases against the ED based on the purported revelations of main accused Swapna Suresh and two women police officers who accompanied her during her deposition in court.

The sensational gold smuggling case surfaced in July last year after 30 kilograms of gold was seized from a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage in the UAE consulate in the state capital. Later, many, including the CM’s principal secretary M Sivasankar and a senior IAS officer, were arrested for helping the accused. The three main accused, including Swapna Suresh, were detained under Cofeposa (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act).

Last month, the Customs department had filed a shocking affidavit in Kerala High Court quoting Swapna Suresh’s statement under Section 164 of the IPC wherein she alleged that the CM, three of his ministers and the Speaker were aware of the smuggling activities through the consulate. Later, the AG had sent a show-cause notice to the Customs Commissioner to explain why contempt proceedings were not initiated against him.