Nearly one and a half years after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed the chargesheet in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case, the proceedings in the case seem to have run out of steam.
None of the accused, including Swapna Suresh, Faisal Fareed, Sandeep Nair and P.S. Sarith, have so far moved the discharge petition, the option available for them to free themselves from the case even before the commencement of the trial.
It was on January 5, 2021 that the NIA filed the chargesheet against 21 accused in the case following the seizure of around 30 kg of gold from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on July 20, 2020. Though the agency had booked 21 persons, eight others, whom the agency believe had a role in the smuggling operations, are absconding. The NIA case was that the accused had knowingly conspired since June 2019 and raised funds and smuggled 167 kg of gold from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through import cargo addressed to the diplomats at the Consulate General of the UAE in Thiruvananthapuram.
