Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, the accused in the airport gold smuggling case, have tested negative for Covid-19. The duo will be brought to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court in Kochi, which will consider the NIA plea seeking their custody later on Monday.
The negative Covid-19 results remove a major irritant that hindered the NIA from carrying on with further procedures in the case. Sources revealed that the court may look at the terrorism angle only on the basis of specific leads. It may be recalled that the NIA has slapped Sections 16 and 17 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on the accused.
Terrorism intent
These Sections deal with punishment for terrorist acts. The NIA court will, therefore, probe whether proceeds from the smuggling have been used for funding any such act. The Special Court may exercise its jurisdiction only on the basis of a body of evidence to show that a terrorist act had been committed or was intended to have been committed.
Offences charged against the accused would hold only if they had committed the act with intent to threaten the economic security of the country, sources said. Lack of such evidence could change the complexion of the case, which would henceforth be considered only as an economic offence, in which case the NIA court may not have jurisdiction to try it, the sources added.
Fresh contraband seized
Meanwhile, on Monday, the same Thiruvananthapuram Airport that hit national headlines with the seizure of 30 kg of contraband gold and is currently being inquired into by the NIA, threw up another surprise with a fresh seizure of 1.45 kg of gold.
The contraband was recovered from three passengers from Dubai and belonging to Tamil Nadu, official sources said here. The contraband was hidden in their waist band and innerwear. Customs officials are inquiring into the links and antecedents of the passengers.
Separately, a smaller but a contextually significant seizure of the yellow metal worth ₹1.25 crore was reported the same morning from the Kannur International Airport. Six passengers belonging to Kozhikode and a seventh from Kasaragod were detained here with the contraband woven into the waist band of their jeans.