KOCHI: After Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, the customs which is probing the case related to smuggling of gold via the diplomatic channel has set in motion the process to invoke Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA) Act against five other fellow accused including mastermind Rameez K T.
A proposal in this regard has been sent to the board concerned which is likely to take a call on this soon, said a customs source. Besides Rameez K T, Sarith, Jalal A M, Muhammad Shafi, and Said Alavi are the others against whom the Customs is planning to bring in COFEPOSA. Jalal, Shafi, and Said Alavi were direct contacts of Rameez, who had planned the entire operation.
Sarith, a former public relations officer at the UAE consulate, had also helped Rameez to smuggle gold multiple times. A meeting of the COFEPOSA board scheduled to be held later this month will consider our proposal,” the source added. Once COFEPOSA is invoked, the accused persons will face one year of preventive detention.
They will be moved to the Poojappura Central Jail where COFE POSA detainees are lodged. Currently, Sandeep is lodged at Poojappura Central Jail while Swapna is being held at the Attakulangara women’s prison. Meanwhile, the customs will record the arrest of Rabins Hameed who had been deported from the UAE last week.
The NIA which first arrested Muvattupuzha native Rabins had interrogated him in custody for a week. Rabins was also involved in another major gold smuggling case in 2015 when over 1,500 kg of gold had been brought in illegally through the Kochi airport. The customs had slapped a Rs 60 lakh penalty, but he could pay only Rs 6 lakh till now.