Swapna Suresh, one of the prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, said on Monday that she has a lot to reveal about the case but alleged a threat to her life. She has raised serious allegations against CM Pinaryi Vijayan and his family. Swapna Suresh had gone to record her secret statement under Section 164 before a Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kochi. The statement recording continued on Tuesday.
While speaking to reporters after her deposition before the court on Tuesday, Swapna alleged that a bag containing money was sent to CM Vijayan when he was in Dubai in 2016.
She told the media that in her statement recorded under section 164, she informed the court about the involvement of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his former principal secretary M Sivasankar, CM’s wife Kamala, daughter Veena, his additional private secretary C M Raveendran, former bureaucrat Nalini Netto, and former minister K T Jaleel in the Gold smuggling scam.
Kochi | I’ve declared in court about the involvement of Kerala CM, his wife and daughter. I have also filed a petition seeking protection in the court: Swapna Suresh, prime accused in gold smuggling case pic.twitter.com/3Q5haK0MXF
— ANI (@ANI) June 7, 2022
Recalling how the entire scam began, Swapna Suresh said, “It all began way back in 2016 when the CM was on a trip to UAE. It was then that Sivasankar contacted me first since I was the secretary in the consulate. He told me that the chief minister had forgotten one of his bags and it had to be taken to Dubai immediately. We sent the bag to the CM through a diplomat in the consulate. When it was brought to the consulate we found that there was money in it. That’s how it all started.”
Notably, Swapna had approached the Special Court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to record her statement under Section 164 of CrPC in the money laundering case related to the gold smuggling case probed by the enforcement directorate (ED). Following her petition, the special court assigned the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court to assign a magistrate to record her statement.
Swapna Suresh added that the money was detected after the luggage was scanned as part of the consulate’s protocol. She, however, refrained from disclosing which country’s currency was there in the bag.
She further said that on M Sivsankar’s orders, biryani vessels containing heavy metals were transported from the consulate general’s house to the Cliff House, the CM’s official residence. “These vessels had heavy objects other than biryani. I can’t reveal everything right now. I will make further revelations when the time is right,” she added.
Swapna Suresh names CM Pinarayi Vijayan and three other ministers in the Gold smuggling case
Notably, Swapna Suresh, in the past has also leveled serious allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and three ministers of his cabinet pertaining to the Gold smuggling case. Last year, ahead of the crucial assembly elections in Kerala, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had been pushed into a tight spot after Swapna Suresh had revealed to the Customs Department that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was very much involved in the gold and dollar smuggling cases.
In a sensational disclosure, Swapna Suresh reportedly also detailed Kerala CM Vijayan’s close connections with the previous UAE Consul General.
In October 2020, Suresh had also revealed to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had held multiple meetings with the Consul General of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2017.
Kerala Gold Scam
In July 2020, the Customs officials in Kerala had nabbed a former employee of the UAE Consulate in Kerala named Sarith who had divulged that Swapna Suresh, also a former staffer, had forged documents to misuse diplomatic privileges, to smuggle gold from UAE illegally.
On July 5, Suresh’s baggage, marked with the UAE Consulate address, was held at the airport. Swapna Suresh worked as the marketing liaison officer of Space Park under the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL) which comes directly under the IT department.
The call details of the main accused, Swapna Suresh, revealed that the accused was in regular touch with Kerala’s Higher Education minister KT Jaleel.
