Kerala minister on the defensive over phone calls with gold smuggling accused

A minister in Kerala is on the defensive as he was found to have contacted gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh several times during the last few months, even as the minister maintained that it was with regard to relief of Ramadan relief kits by UAE consulate.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ordered a probe into the phone calls between his former principal secretary M Sivasankar and Swapna. A team led by Chief Secretary Biswas Mehta would probe the calls.

Kerala Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel was found to be in touch with Swapna as call records of Swapna came out. Jaleel maintained that the UAE consul general in Thiruvananthapuram only deputed Swapna to coordinate supply of Ramadan relief food kits. Jaleel said he got a message from the consul general on May 27 that Swapna would coordinate supply of relief materials. Hence she got in touch with him.

Sivasankar was being quizzed by the customs in connection with his alleged nexus with the smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh, who was a former employee of the UAE consulate. Customs sources said that so far there was no evidence of Sivasankar's involvement in gold smuggling. But it was suspected that the smuggling gang members used to meet at a flat taken on rent by Sivasankar.

The customs official arrested four more persons suspected to be involved in distribution of the smuggled gold. It included persons who were earlier involved in gold smuggling also.