Thiruvananthapuram: Solar case accused Saritha Nair recorded a confidential statement before the Court under Section 164 of CrPC on a conspiracy case, on Thursday.

Judicial First Class Magistrate Aneesa recorded Saritha’s statement in the conspiracy case based on former Minister and MLA K T Jaleel’s complaint against gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh’s allegations.

Speaking to the media after recording her confidential statement to the Court, Saritha said, evidence has been given to the Court. The Police decided to record Saritha’s statement under section 164, after an audio message between Saritha and former Poonjar MLA P C George discussing Swapna Suresh’s case, surfaced.

'Big sharks involved'

“P C George is not the brains behind dragging me into the case. Other ‘big sharks’ are involved,” said Saritha. She maintained that there is a huge conspiracy behind Swapna’s allegations.

“Dragging me into the case was also a conspiracy. I enquired about those involved only when my family and I were drawn into the case. What I learned was shocking. It is not politicians who are behind all this. The conspirators tried to say what they wanted through me. P C George, Swapna, Sarith, and 'Crime' Nandakumar, dragged me into this,” Saritha said.

“Swapna made the revelations as someone had promised to protect her. There may be politicians behind her allegations. I cannot say whether P C George was being used as a tool, in this case. Only the Police can tell that. As of now, I can’t say whether George tried to trap me either. I have informed the Court of the day-to-day happenings related to the case. Financial fraud has triggered these incidents. Those who lost the money invested in gold would try to get it back. An international gang is behind the case.”

Swapna’s allegations are not just politically driven. It is also about her sustenance. She only had two options; one – raise allegations, two – return the money. Swapna chose the second, Saritha said, adding that she did not know where the gold came from.

“P C George wanted me to raise baseless allegations against the Chief Minister. I don’t know anything beyond that. I did not attend the meeting held by those involved in the conspiracy.” Saritha said. She added that she avoided the ‘discussion’ when she heard it was being held at Crime magazine editor TP Nandakumar's office.

Saritha’s statement was recorded amid allegations that Swapna Suresh’s revelations are aimed at political sabotage. Swapna had earlier stated that Saritha had tried to contact her many times, but she did not yield.

The case

Swapna Suresh had recently levelled fresh allegations against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his family members, few politicians including Jaleel and some top bureaucrats in connection with certain smuggling cases. Jaleel filed a case against Swapna alleging a conspiracy following this.

Swapna was released from jail in November last year, 16 months after her arrest in the sensational gold smuggling case.

A former employee of the UAE Consulate, she was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with another accused Sandeep Nair from Bengaluru on July 11, 2020.

The NIA, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Customs conducted a separate probe 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 M Sivasankar, the former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and another ex-employee of the UAE Consulate here, Sarith P S, were arrested in connection with the case.