Gold smuggling case: Bail pleas of two accused dismissed

KOCHI: The Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offence) court on Friday dismissed bail pleas of two accused in the gold smuggling case related to the seizure of 25 kgs of gold by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) from Thiruvananthapuram airport last month. The bail petitions by the two accused, Advocate Biju Mohanan and Customs Superintendent B Radhakrishnan, were dismissed on grounds that the investigation is still in its preliminary stage. 

The court claimed that two accused persons in the case have given statements about the involvement of Radhakrishnan. Similarly, the DRI has obtained CCTV footage claiming that the accused facilitated the smugglers to evade checking on five occasions. The probe suspects that over 400 kgs of gold were smuggled by the racket in the past year. As many as 8 persons were arrested by DRI in the case.

The CBI also has registered a separate case under the Prevention of Corruption Act following the arrest of the Customs Superintendent.

Too early to consider

Bail pleas of the accused were dismissed on the grounds that the investigation is still in its primary stage