Accused names Kerala CM, his family in gold smuggling case

Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the July 2020 Thiruvananthapuram airport gold smuggling case, has raised serious allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his family members, former minister and officials, causing ripples across the state.

She made her allegations in a special court, and said that during a 2016 Dubai trip, a bag containing currency was collected by a UAE consulate employee from the Chief Minister’s office and handed over in Dubai as instructed by the chief minister's then secretary, M Sivasankar.

Suresh’s statement has caused much embarrassment to the Left Democratic Front government in the state. She also alleged that biryani vessels that weighed unusually heavy were frequently supplied from the UAE consul general's residence in Thiruvananthapuram to the Chief Minister’s official residence.

The Chief Minister, who was accosted by reporters at Thiruvananthapuram airport, refused to comment.

Meanwhile, the Congress launched a fresh round of attack against the chief minister. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K Sudhakaran said that the CPM should decide whether Pinarayi should continue as the Chief Minister.

Suresh gave her statement over the last two days in Kochi under section 164 of CrPC at a special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases. On Tuesday, she told reporters that she had mentioned in the statement given before the court the involvement of the Chief Minister, his wife and daughter, Sivasankar, former chief secretary and former principal secretary to the chief minister Nalini Netto, personal staff member C M Raveendran, and former minister K T Jaleel.

On Monday, she claimed there was a threat to her life.

Suresh, who was a former secretary to the UAE consul general in Thiruvananthapuram, said that after the Chief Minister left for Dubai in 2016, Sivasankar contacted her and said that the Chief Minister forgot to take a bag from his office, and insisted that the bag should be immediately brought to UAE.

The bag was collected from the chief minister’s office. On scanning at the UAE consulate, it was found that the bag contained currency notes. A diplomat of the consulate took the bag to the UAE.

She further said that biriyani vessels, which according to her contained more than biryani, were frequently carried from consul general's house in the city to the Chief Minister's official residence.

Suresh was arrested in connection to the attempt to smuggle 30 kilogram of gold using diplomatic baggage from UAE through the Thiruvananthapuram airport in July 2020. She was in remand for more than a year, for the cases registered by various central agencies, including Customs and Enforcement Directorate.

While she was in remand, some audio recordings of Suresh stating that the central agencies were forcing her to give statements against the Chief Minister came out. But after she was released on bail, Suresh said that it was planned by Sivasankar.