Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday granted bail to prime accused Swapna Suresh in the Kerala gold smuggling case, after almost 16 months.

Her counsel pointed out that the court has given her a clean chit in the terror angle in the NIA case

The bail came in the case registered against her by the National Investigation Agency and since she had secured bail in other cases, she can now walk free.

Meanwhile, since she has to execute few bonds and sureties in this case and a few other cases, it’s unlikely that she will be able to come out of the jail, later in the day.

Her counsel pointed out that the court has given her a clean chit in the terror angle in the NIA case.

The smuggling case came to light on July 5, 2020, when the Customs arrested Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, for allegedly smuggling gold in a diplomatic baggage destined for the Consulate.

Swapna Suresh, who previously worked in the UAE Consulate, and her associate Sandip Nair, were arrested in the case by the NIA from Bengaluru a few days later.

When strict restrictions were imposed on travel last year to check the spread of the coronavirus, both Swapna Suresh and Nair managed to drive from here to Bengaluru from where they were arrested by an NIA team a few days later.

Eyebrows were raised at that time on how they managed inter-state travel.