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Kerala – 250 Kg gold brought in diplomatic baggage in a year, says NIA

Were the Intelligence agencies and investigation agencies asleep for 1 year until the gold was being smuggled in Kerala ? 

Kochi (Kerala) – The NIA sleuths investigating the Kerala gold smuggling case say the racket may have been part of a systematic conspiracy to destabilise India’s economy as they estimate that 250 kg of gold was smuggled into the country by using some employees of the United Arab Emirates diplomatic mission since July 2019. The NIA has arrested four persons while the Customs have nabbed 13 people so far in connection with the gold smuggling case after the seizure of 30 kg of the yellow metal from the Thiruvananthapuram airport on 5th July.

  1.  “Terrorism is not just about carrying out bomb blasts or providing arms and ammunitions. Under UAPA, there is a broad definition of terrorism and terror financing. The suspicion is that this was being done to monetarily destabilise India,” an officer in the know about investigation told News18.
  2. Two parallel investigations in the case are currently underway. While the Customs Department is investigating violation of the Customs Act, the National Investigation Agency is looking at the possibility of larger conspiracy – the purpose of the gold smugglers, whether it was for personal benefits or to “destabilise India”.
  3. Sources in Customs Department have said that 180 Kg of gold could have been smuggled since July last year in 20 different consignments via the diplomatic route. But NIA officials, who are also looking at the same time line, said the amount of gold smuggled in could be around 250 kg.

 

 

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