Kochi: The man Swapna Suresh accused of threatening her, a former journalist named Shaj Kiran, has a different version of the meeting he had with Swapna on June 8.
He said he had indeed met Swapna at her office on June 8 and had even given her a friendly warning that her actions would have serious consequences. "But I have not threatened her and had never told her to withdraw her statement and create a video of her apologising for her statement," Shaj told reporters in Kochi on Thursday.
Swapna had alleged that Shaj, whom she called the Chief Minister's messenger, told her to withdraw her statement by 10 am on Thursday.
Shaj said that he was no one's messenger. "I have no connections with any politician, be it Pinarayi Vijayan or Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. I had last seen the Chief Minister at a press conference," he said.
He also refuted Swapna's charge that he was closely linked to the Believer's Church. Except that his wife had once worked with the Church, he said he had no other links with the religious organisation.
He said he did not know M Sivasankar either. "I have not seen Sivasankar except on TV," Shaj said. Swapna's statement in Court said that it was Sivasankar who had introduced Shaj to her.
Shaj expressed surprise that Swapna had leveled such a charge. "The Swapna I know would not talk like this. I know her and she knows me," he said, hinting that her lawyers would have forced to make the statements in her petition to strengthen her case. He said he would believe that Swapna had said this only if she told these charges to his face.
He said he rushed to Swapna's place in Palakkad because she had sent him a message saying "help me", after Sarith was found missing. When he was asked why he had stayed late into the evening at Swapna's place, Shaj said it was because Swapna had asked him to wait. "She said she had fits and asked me to wait. She told me that she had cardiac problems and also that she was diabetic," Shaj said.
According to Shaj, he had befriended Swapna only 50 days ago in connection with a real estate deal.
