Kerala: Swapna Suresh, the main accused in the Kerala gold smuggling scam said that she was mentally tortured by an alleged ‘mediator’ of Chief Minister Pinnarayi Vijayan, Shaj Kiran. She said that he had demanded she withdraw the confidential statement she had given in the Kerala High Court. Swapna Suresh revealed this a day after her anticipatory bail plea was rejected.
While speaking to the media, she said that she and three others were travelling from Pallakad to Thrissur. Shaj Kiran, who was one of the passengers, had said that Sarith would be taken into custody.
Shaj Kiran had said this in front of Swapna Suresh and another man called Anish. The following day, Sarith was taken into custody by vigilance as stated by Shaj Kiran.
‘HAVE VOICE CLIPS, RECORDINGS’
“Shaj Kiran and Ibrahim were working here. They had come here for a compromise talk. I have voice clips and recordings. I was given psychological torture till last night and they wanted me to withdraw the 164 statement,” said Swapna Suresh.
Swapna added, “They assured me that they would take away the travel ban and the issue with this case. This was what they told me. My lawyer has the voice recording and we will release it soon.”
Earlier, Swapna Suresh had alleged that Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan smuggled currency during his visits to Dubai in 2016.
Following her allegations, CCTV footage of CM’s ‘mediator’ Shaj Kiran visiting Swapna Suresh at her office has surfaced. However, Shaj Kiran said that the meeting was over a land deal and challenged Swapna to make the audio clip public. Swapna Suresh is likely to release the voice recording on Friday, June 10.
KERALA GOLD SMUGGLING CASE
Customs officials at the international airport in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram seized baggage containing gold weighing over 30 kg and valued at around Rs 15 crore on July 5, 2020.
The gold was inside diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE consulate.
Customs officials were tipped off that the baggage was part of a smuggling syndicate trying to misuse the name of a person with diplomatic immunity.
A probe revealed Swapna Suresh, the main accused, had contacts with powerful people in Kerala. She had also made several calls to them in the run-up to the current case of gold smuggling.
Former principal secretary to Kerala CM Vijayan, M Sivasankar, was suspended from service after his links with Swapna Suresh surfaced.
Swapna Suresh, who was a staffer at the UAE consulate, was hired to work on a project for the Kerala IT department, which is under CM Vijayan. M Sivasankar used to head this department. India Today
