Swapna, aide held by NIA in B'luru in gold smuggling case

Bengaluru, July 11 In a swift operation, sleuths of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have detained Swapna Suresh and her accomplice Sandeep Nair in the city for their alleged involvement in the Kerala gold smuggling case, a source said on Saturday.

"The NIA officials have taken Swapna and her aide (Sandeep) into custody from a city house for their alleged role in the smuggling of 30kg gold from the UAE to Kerala early this week," a city police official said.

The duo will be flown to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala on Sunday on a transit remand and produced in a local court for police or judicial custody.

Swapna, a former employee of the UAE consulate in the Kerala capital, is among the four accused the NIA had booked for allegedly facilitating the smuggling of gold through diplomatic baggage to Thiruvananthaupuram from Dubai on July 5.

Swapna and Suresh ad been absconding since the case came to light and an FIR registered against them.

The NIA took over the case on Friday and filed a first information report against the accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The other two accused are P.S. Sarith and Fazil Fareed.

( With inputs from IANS )