Kochi: Gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh on Thursday alleged that Kerala Chief Minister's messenger Shaj Kiran pursuaded her to withdraw her secret statement from court.
"The chief minister's messenger has approached me. A person named, Shaji Kiran, reached the Palakkad office and asked me to withdraw my secret statement. He asked me to withdraw my statement before 10 am today. He added that he was meeting the CM and the DGP at the same time," Swapna said in an anticipatory bail plea submitted to the court.
Meanwhile, the visuals of Shaj Kiran reaching Swapna's Palakkad office were accessed by Manorama News.
Swapna added that he threatened to slap serious charges on Swapna and Sarith if she did not oblige to his demands.
'I have an audio clip of the conversation with me," she said.
Swapna also informed that M Sivasankar had introduced Shaj Kiran to him.
Gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh and P S Sarith are trying for an anticipatory bail from the High Court to avoid arrest following former minister K T Jaleel's complaint against their recent claims against him.
Swapna and Sarith were colleagues at the Thiruvananthapuram Consulate of the United Arab Emirates. It was in mid-2020 that the Customs busted a smuggling racket linked to the consulate. The probe revealed that consular staff were hand in glove with gold smugglers in Kerala and the Middle East. They used the diplomatic baggage to carry out smuggling. Money laundering also was likely attempted by the syndicate that enjoyed political patronage.
Swapna and Sarith are currently out on bail in the gold smuggling case.
