In a statement that can have far-reaching impact in Kerala, Swapna Suresh, one of the main accused in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling scam, on Tuesday said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was involved in the scam.
Swapna Suresh told media that a baggage containing currency was sent to CM Vijayan when he was in Dubai in 2016. She said in her secret statement recorded before a Judicial First Class Magistrate Court she has said about the involvement of the chief minister, 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. The confidential statement, known as 164 statement, is recorded under Section 164 of CrPC.
“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 the chief minister had forgotten to take 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 currency in it. That's how it all started,” Suresh said.
She said the currency was detected when the bag was scanned as part of the consulate's protocol. She did not specify what currency was in the bag.
She said biryani vessels containing heavy metals were taken to the Cliff House, the CM's official residence, from consulate general's house based on the instructions of Sivsankar.
“Upon situations and time permits, I will tell everything,” she said.
Pinarayi alleges political agenda
Following the revelations, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that she was being used as part of a larger political conspiracy.
"This is part of a political agenda. Such agendas had been rejected by the people. Now, after a brief interval, an accused in the case has been used to repeat the very same charges against us. There is not a shred of truth in them," the chief minister said in an official statement.
Sivasankar said he did not care about Suresh's remarks while Nalini Netto refused to comment. Jaleel belittled the allegations in a sarcastic post on Facebook. The post suggested that he was least bothered about the allegations.
Swapna fears threat to life
Swapna Suresh had on Monday said there was a threat to her life and therefore, she was going to disclose all the facts related to the case before the court.
Talking to reporters after recording her statement in a court in Kochi, Suresh said she had more to say about the gold smuggling case and the people involved in it.
She said her statement to the court was incomplete and the remainder would be recorded on Tuesday after which she would speak to the media in detail.
“There is a threat to my life. So I decided to give a statement to the court…disclose all the facts (related to the gold smuggling) and the people involved in it,” she said.
Suresh was released from jail in November last year, 16 months after her arrest in the sensational gold smuggling case.
Suresh was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with another accused Sandeep Nair from Bengaluru on July 11, 2020.
She was a former employee of the UAE consulate here.
The NIA, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Customs conducted separate investigations into the racket that was busted with the seizure of gold worth Rs 15 crore from the diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5, 2020.
Several people, including Sivasankar and another ex-employee of the UAE Consulate, Sarith P S, were arrested in connection with the case.
The opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front had levelled a series of allegations against the chief minister in connection with the case. Vijayan was re-elected in the 2021 April elections despite the opposition front making the gold smuggling scam a major poll issue.
