Thiruvananthapuram: The Joint Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is exploring the scope of ordering a reinvestigation into the gold smuggling case based on the revelations made by the main accused Swapna Suresh recently.
A detailed report on the latest developments will be sent to the ED headquarters in New Delhi soon. The report will be submitted to the ED Special Director, who supervised the investigation in the case.
Swapna revealed to the media some of the details that she had already given in her statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code and which she had told the inquiry officers during questioning.
The revelations of Swapna have emboldened the ED and it will enable the investigating agency to further advance its argument that the State Government had used the Crime Branch and the police to scuttle the probe by the Central agencies into the gold smuggling case.
The Crime Branch earlier registered two cases, accusing the ED of trying to embroil Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the case. This had led to the opening up of protracted legal between the State Government and the ED.
Though the High Court Single Bench later quashed the FIR against the ED officials, the State Government did not leave the matter there. It went to the Division Bench, questioning the order issued by the Single Bench. The new revelations by Swapna would enable the ED to argue in the court that the cases registered against the ED by the State Crime Branch were all cooked up.
Swapna revealed to the media the other day that the ED officials did not force her to name the Chief Minister in the case. Swapna said that it was the woman police official on duty who persuaded her to speak like that by telling her that Sivasankar had extended all help to save her from the case.
Swapna also alleged that the police had doctored a fake audio clip and publicised it in which she was heard telling that the ED was trying to embroil the Chief Minister in the case.
The ED is likely to submit before the court the need for conducting a thorough probe into the making of the audio clip having the sound byte of an undertrial. The report to be submitted to the ED headquarters by the Kochi office will contain all these aspects.
New life to Life Mission case
The investigation into the Life Mission corruption case has been derailed for a long period due to the stiff legal battle fought by the State Government in the courts. The CBI had gone up to the Supreme Court in the case.
But, the public admission by Swapna that the work on the Life Mission Project, which was initially to be executed by the State Government, was given to the Unitac construction company by the then Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, M Sivasankar, and the UAE Consular General with the aim of getting commission has become a turning point in the case.
'Pinarayi's silence an admission of guilt'
BJP State president K Surendran said that the continued silence of the Pinarayi Government on the charges levelled by Swapna was an open admission of guilt.
He said the allegation by Swapna that a fake voice clip in her name was fabricated by the State police was very serious. He said that action should be taken against the police personnel involved in doctoring the fake audio clip.
Meanwhile, UDF convenor MM Hasan demanded that the Central agencies should begin a reinvestigation in the case based on the revelations of Swapna.
He pointed out that the State Government had committed dereliction of duty by revoking the suspension of Sivasankar and by giving him a new posting by overlooking the fact that he is still accused in criminal cases.
Hasan said it was a serious revelation that Sivasankar had fabricated fake documents and then arranged job for Swapna in the State IT Department.
