The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will soon move a Blue Notice to Interpol in connection with the move to extradite Faisal Fareed, an accused in the gold smuggling case in Thiruvananthapuram, from the United Arab Emirates.
The agency secured an open warrant from the special court of the NIA, Kochi, on Monday. Faisal Fareed, according to the investigators, is a key link in the gold smuggling case that has rocked the State.
The Blue Notice is usually issued to gather additional information on the identity, location, or activities of a person suspected to be involved in a crime. The notices of the Interpol are considered “international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information,” according to the website of the agency.
Bag produced in court
Meanwhile, the NIA produced before the court a trolley bag, which it had seized from a friend of Sandeep Nair, an accused in the case. The investigators told the court that the bag needed to be opened and its contents examined as they believed that it could contain crucial evidence pertaining to the smuggling case.
The agency had earlier recovered the key of the bag from Sandeep. On enquiry, it was revealed that Sandeep had entrusted the bag to his friend for safe custody. The agency is likely to move a petition in the court on Tuesday to assign an official of the court to open the bag and list its contents.
Another petition for correcting the name of the suspect, Fazal Fareed, was moved by the agency on the day. The agency submitted that it had got the name of the suspect wrong and the real name of the accused was Faisal Fareed. The court accepted the contentions of the agency and allowed it to correct the name.
It also produced before the court ₹2.5 lakh that it recovered from Sandeep and co-accused Swapna Suresh.