The agency, probing the money trail in the case, arrested the former principal secretary to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan after the high court dismissed his anticipatory bail plea.
Opposing the plea, the ED submitted that suspended IAS officer Sivasankar was not cooperating with the investigation. The Customs also alleged he wasn't providing clear answers.
The NIA's probe has revealed that Rabins K Hameed had conspired with others arrested in the case and had purchased gold in Dubai to smuggle it into India.
The anticipatory bail pleas were filed by Sivasankar following the arrest by the Customs probing the gold smuggling and the ED investigating the money trail in the case.
Union minister and Kerala BJP leader Muraleedharan alleged that this case is distinct from other gold smuggling cases because it is ‘directly’ linked to the chief minister's office.
Despite getting bail, Swapna Suresh will continue to remain in prison as she has been arrested under the UAPA in another gold smuggling case being probed by the NIA.
Suresh, however, will remain behind bars as she is an accused in the alleged terror link of the gold smuggling case probed by the NIA and an illegal trade case probed by the ED.
Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of Kerala CPI(M) state secretary and former minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, is also being probed by Bengaluru Crime Branch in a drug racket case.
The Congress demanded an NIA probe into the matter while BJP state chief K Surendran courted arrest for forcefully entering the secretariat complex soon after the fire broke out.
The last time this matter flared up was when Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, in a very similar directive in April, called for the relocation of stray dogs in the capital.
Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?
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