The National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Kochi on Monday was highly critical of the ongoing probe into the smuggling of gold via the diplomatic channel while considering the bail petitions of eight accused persons who mainly invested money in the illegal activity. The court, while yet again directing the NIA to submit the Case Dairy (CD), orally observed that it cannot continue to believe that there is evidence against accused persons under various Sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) as charged by the anti-terror agency.

V T Raghunath, counsel for accused Amjad Ali — who is among those seeking bail —  said the court asked the NIA to list out the 30 accused into three categories — those directly involved in the smuggling activity, the conspirators and who invested money for smuggling in gold. “The court has approved our demand and asked to present a list of persons who invested money,” said Raghunath.

NIA to submit case diary before court on Tuesday

“The investors were not involved in the case relating to terror financing. They did it to make money. The court orally observed that it cannot wait any longer for the NIA to submit the evidence under Section 16, 17 and 18 of the UAPA that the smuggled gold was meant to fund terrorist activities or purposefully destabilise the economic security of the nation under Section 15 of UAPA. At one stage the court even observed that if the the necessary evidence is not submitted, it may have to consider granting bail to the accused,” he added. Ever since taking over the probe, the NIA has repeatedly  claimed that the smuggled gold was meant for funding terrorist activities. 

However, when the bail petition of prime accused Swapna Suresh came up before the court in August this year, the agency claimed that the accused persons intended to destabilise the economic security of the nation. Even in recent petitions filed before the court in the case, NIA claimed that it suspects that smuggled gold was meant for funding terror activities.

“It is quite clear that the probe could not unearth any terrorist activities until now. Though the NIA stated before the court there is evidence for everything, it could not substantiate its contention,” he said. An NIA source confirmed that the Assistant Solicitor General (ASG) will be appearing for the agency when the case will be considered again on Tuesday. The CD will be submitted before the court on Tuesday morning. The NIA is confident that it will be able to convince the court of the ongoing investigation after the court goes through the contents of the CD. The court will also consider the anticipatory bail plea of three accused persons in the case on Tuesday.

Magistrate records Sandeep’s confession
The Aluva Judicial First Class Magistrate on Monday recorded the confession of Sandeep Nair, a key accused in the case relating to the smuggling of gold via the diplomatic baggage. 

Swapna gets bail in Customs case
Kochi: The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) Court on Monday granted bail to Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case. But she may not be released as she is an accused in a case registered by NIA. 

LIFE Mission: HC seeks clarification from CBI
Kochi: The High Court has directed the CBI to inform whether funds received by Unitac as part of Life Mission project come under the definition of foreign contribution under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.

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