Swapna Suresh alleges threat to life; 'have more to reveal in Kerala gold smuggling case'

In a key development, the prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh claimed a threat to her life on Monday. Speaking to the media, Suresh stated that her revelation is 'incomplete' before the court and that she has more to reveal about the case and the people involved. She said that she would be revealing it all in the court tomorrow, after which, she would also address the media in detail. 

What is the Kerala gold smuggling scam?

On 5 July 2020, Customs officials seized 30 kg of gold worth Rs.15 crore at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport from a diplomatic cargo addressed to a person in the UAE Consulate. Sarith PS, who worked at the UAE Consulate, was apprehended in this regard.

Subsequently, Swapna Suresh, an ex-Consulate employee working as the manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited and M Sivasankar were also arrested in this case. Sivasankar, in his book, claimed that Swapna cheated him under the pretext of friendship. In retaliation, Swapna also made a series of allegations against Sivasankar, saying he manipulated her. Suresh and Sivasankar were booked and arrested in cases filed by the Customs, ED and the state police. After securing bail in all cases, Sivasankar walked free in February 2021, and Suresh in November the same year.

As per the charge sheet, the NIA alleged that the accused persons raised funds and smuggled 167 kg of gold between November 2019 and June 2020 through the import cargo addressed to diplomats at the Consulate General of UAE in Thiruvananthapuram. Furthermore, it added that they had planned to smuggle more gold from countries such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.