BENGALURU/KOCHI: Swapna Suresh, the key accused in the sensational bid to smuggle in 30 kg of gold using the UEA consulate’s diplomatic baggage on July 5 and whose alleged connections with some of Kerala’s movers and shakers has roiled the state’s political scene, was detained along with her accomplice Sandeep Nair by National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Swapna, a former secretary at the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram and later an executive with Kerala’s information technology department, was on the run ever since the smuggling bid was foiled by Customs at the Trivandrum International Airport last Sunday. Her associate Sarith P S, a former PRO at the UAE consulate, was arrested but Swapna along with other accused Fazil Fareed and Sarith’s brother Sandeep Nair couldn’t be traced.
“Accused Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair have been detained in the Kerala gold smuggling case. They are being examined and will be arrested in due course. The