Kerala gold smuggling: HC adjourns hearing on Swapna Suresh's anticipatory bail plea

Kochi, July 10: Kerala High Court on Friday adjourned hearing of anticipatory bail application of Swapna Suresh, the main accused in the high-profile Kerala gold smuggling case, till Tuesday.

Centre's counsel Ravi Prakash told the court,''Since National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over probe, HC cannot entertain bail plea & matter has to be dealt with by special court."

The woman moved the bail application via online on Wednesday night. The gold, weighing over 30kg, was seized from a "diplomatic baggage" that had landed by air cargo at Thiruvananthapuram international Airport recently. The Customs department has said it suspected a smuggling syndicate had misused the name of a person who enjoys diplomatic immunity.

Earlier on Thursday, the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed the NIA to probe the gold smuggling case detected at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport in Kerala as the incident "may have serious implications for national security," officials said.

The decision came a day after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his "intervention for an effective investigation" into the seizure of gold worth crores of rupees from a "diplomatic baggage" at the airport in the state capital.