Gold smuggling case: NIA searches Coimbatore goldsmith's premises

Chennai, Sep 9 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials on Wednesday conducted searches at the residence and business premises of a goldsmith in Coimbatore as part of its ongoing probe into the Kerala gold smuggling case, police said.A four-member NIA team reached the residence of Nandakumar in Coimbatore this morning to carry out the searches. Further details are awaited.The gold smuggling case surfaced when PS Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, was arrested by the Customs on July 5 when he was allegedly facilitating the smuggling of 30 kg gold in diplomatic baggage from Dubai.It turned murkier when the name of Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the Consulate but since employed with the Kerala IT Department, surfaced. Her links to now-suspended IAS officer M Sivasankar, who was then Principal Secretary to the Chief as well as IT Secretary, also came out.
--IANS vj/tsb