Kerala gold smuggling case: Swapna Suresh gets bail in ED case

Kochi: Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case in Kerala, was on Tuesday granted bail by a court here in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate.

The ED is probing the money trail in the sensational case.

Suresh, however, will continue to remain behind bars as she is an accused in the alleged terror link of the case probed by the National Investigation Agency.

Last week, a court on Economic Offences here had granted statutory bail to Suresh in a case registered by the Customs.

Granting bail to Suresh, the Special Court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases, today said the right to get ‘default bail’ is a very important one. The Court said Suresh had satisfied all the requirements for obtaining ‘default bail.’

As of October 5, 2020, she had put in more than 60 days in custody pending investigation into alleged offences not punishable with imprisonment for a minimum period of 10 years, the Court said and held that Suresh was entitled to default bail under Section 167 (2) of CrPC.

The smuggling case came to the fore when Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi, seized 30 kg of gold worth Rs 14.82 crore found camouflaged in diplomatic baggage from the UAE on July 5.