Kerala gold smuggling case: Swapna Suresh, aide arrested in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Swapna Suresh, one of the key accused in the recent Kerala gold smuggling case, was detained along with her aide Sandeep Nair by National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths in Bengaluru on Saturday morning.
Swapna, a former secretary in the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram and currently attached to the information technology department, is the second accused in the gold smuggling racket.
While first accused Sarith PS (a former PRO at the consulate) was arrested earlier, Swapna, along with other accused Fazil Fareed and Sarith’s brother Sandeep Nair, had been on the run.
According to NIA sources, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep arrived in Bengaluru by road and had moved to several locations to avoid being arrested.
The sleuths traced their location to a hotel near the Kempegowda International Airport but they had moved out and checked into a hotel in Koramangala on Friday night. There were two minors with them. The duo were arrested from BTM Layout, an NIA statement said.
cr
Swapna reached Bengaluru by road
On Saturday, Sandeep had gone to the central business district and checked out room availability in different hotels. “We suspect they reached the city a couple of days ago by road. We detained them when they were travelling back to the hotel. Swapna initially refused to speak, saying her advocates would talk to police. NIA sleuths from Kochi explained to her that they have every right to question her. The two have been taken to an unidentified location for questioning,” sources said.
The cops aren’t sure how they managed to sneak into Karnataka. “We are checking if she invoked her diplomatic status to get past the border,” sources said. She’ll be taken to Kochi and produced before a magistrate on Sunday.