Thiruvananthapuram: After obtaining crucial information from Swapna Suresh during questioning on November 10, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will seek further details from her soon. The agency has not decided whether it will seek her custody or if the questioning can be done at the Attakulangara jail where she is currently lodged after being charged under COFEPOSA in a dollar-smuggling case.

When Swapna was questioned at the jail on November 10, the statement she gave marked a turning point in the case. She said that M Sivasankar, the chief minister’s former principal secretary, was aware of the gold smuggling. This was something she had not revealed to any agency during her many interrogations since her arrest on July 11.

Swapna told ED officials that she was afraid to reveal all this. The statement was recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The important thing about this is the statement recorded under the section cannot be withdrawn later. The statement has the legal protection of a civil court. The statement is recorded after making this known to the person giving it.

Swapna opened up after her long WhatsApp chats with Sivasankar were shown to her as evidence.

The ED investigations team analysed on Thursday the voicemail said to be of Swapna Suresh that came out recently in which it is said that she was being pressured to make a statement against the chief minister. Its assessment is that the voicemail does not say that the ED was putting pressure on her, but that this was the impression created by the presenter of the web portal that released the voicemail.

The ED believes that the voicemail could have been intended to put pressure on the agency to not release other details of the statements Swapna had given on November 10. According to the agency, even if what was not said in court at any stage of the investigation comes out as audio recordings, it would not affect its case against Swapna.

Even if the police investigate the voicemail and file a report against the ED in court, the agency will argue that jail is under the jurisdiction of the state government and that it does not know what happened there.

Customs records Swapna’s arrest in dollar smuggling case

The Customs Department has recorded the arrest of Swapna and Sarith in a case of smuggling of dollars abroad. An investigation team from Kochi reached the Attakulangara jail and completed the Swapna’s arrest procedures. Sarith's arrest was recorded at Viyyur Jail where he is currently lodged.

The Customs Department will approach the court seeking the custody of Swapna in this case.

A High Court committee will meet on November 23 to validate the imposition of COFEPOSA against Swapna and Sandeep Nair, who is also an accused in the gold and dollar smuggling cases.

Voicemail in proper Malayalam, I don’t know Malayalam: Swapna

Although the audio message that came out recently seems like hers, she is not completely sure about it, Swapna Suresh has said in a statement she gave to jail DIG Ajay Kumar. She could not remember because her mental and physical condition was so bad at the time when the voicemail is said to have been recorded, she said.

The DIG's report states that a detailed investigation is needed to ascertain whether the voicemail was fake. Following this, jail DGP Rishiraj Singh wrote to DGP Lokanath Behera seeking an expert inquiry by the cyber cell to know who copied the voicemail and from where.

Swapna said there are many reasons why she can’t be completely sure about the voicemail being hers. Most of the message is proper Malayalam and there are only two or three words in English. However, she speaks mostly only in English as has not learnt Malayalam, she said. Even if she tried to speak Malayalam, many English words would creep in without her being aware of it, she said. These things are mentioned in the report of the jail DIG.

Rishiraj Singh’s stance is that a special inquiry is needed to protect the credibility of the jail department. The department has found that the conversation in the voicemail did not take place from the Attakulangara women's jail, where Swapna Suresh is currently lodged. After she was brought to the jail on October 14, she has been allowed to meet visitors only on Wednesdays. Only her mother, husband, two children and brother are allowed to meet her. She has only spoken to her mother once from thee jail.