KOCHI: Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) court in Kochi on Tuesday permitted the Customs probing the gold smuggling via the diplomatic channel to interrogate prime accused Sarith PS and Swapna Suresh at the jail. Customs is set to interrogate Sarith at Viyyur Central Jail and Swapna at Attakulangara Women's Prison on Wednesday.
The Customs decided to interrogate the duo following new evidence obtained by Enforcement Directorate (ED) which is probing the money laundering aspect in the gold smuggling, against former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar.
Customs interrogated Sivasankar at Kakkanad District Jail on Monday.
"From the evidence submitted by the ED before the Sessions Court, it has come to light that Swapna and Sarith have colluded with Sivasankar in the smuggling of gold several times and used clout and influence of the said person to get the consignments released. Interrogation of accused respondents are required in order to complete the investigation, and to corroborate the evidence submitted by the ED," the Customs stated in the petition.
Customs also requested permission to make a formal arrest of Sivasankar if found necessary. The court after considering the petition permitted Customs to question the duo in jail.
However, there was no mention of permission to arrest Sivasankar in the order. Customs sources stated that they will question Sarith and Swapna on Wednesday.
"Swapna has revealed Sivasankar's link in the gold smuggling case. If she reveals the details about Sivasankar's involvement to us as well, we will file a separate petition at the court to record Sivasankar's arrest," Customs sources said.
Meanwhile, the court on Tuesday extended the judicial custody period of Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair till December 1. Both the accused undergoing preventive detention under COFEPOSA were examined by the court via video conferencing.