Gold smuggling: 2 get bail

The DRI said that as the interrogation was over, the custody of the duo was not needed.

The Economic Offences Court here on Saturday granted bail to the second and third accused in a case related to the smuggling of gold from the Kochi Special Economic Zone. Both the accused were produced before the court after their judicial remand ended on Saturday.

Counsel for Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) submitted before the court that the interrogation of Biju Abraham and Hareesh Babu had been completed and their custody was no more required. The court granted bail to the duo on the condition that a bond of `1 lakh each will be executed with two solvent sureties to the like sum for each person.

The accused were also asked not to leave Kottayam and Ernakulam districts and surrender their passports with the court. They have also been directed to appear at the DRI office in Kochi every Monday between 9 am and 1 pm. Meanwhile, the DRI authorities have summoned Prashant Mehta, MD, Rajesh Exports and first accused in the case, to appear before the probe team on Monday. His legal representative had asked the DRI for more time for Prashant Mehta to appear for inquiry.

It was in the first week of May that DRI officials arrested Hareesh Babu with 900 grams of gold when he was about to board a train to Bangalore. During interrogation, Babu revealed that it was Biju Abraham, General Manager,Rajesh Exports, who had asked him to take the gold to the company godown in Bangalore. Later,  upon interrogation Biju Abraham told the cops about the involvement of Prashant Mehta in the case.

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