Kerala Gold smuggling:Swapna Suresh's plea seeking copy of statement to Customs, dismissed

In a new development in the Kerala Gold smuggling scam, the Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by prime accused Swapna Suresh who sought a copy of the statement given by her to the Customs department during her interrogation.

The court observed that the document having Swapna Suresh's statement is confidential and hence refused the authorities to give her a copy of her statement. The customs in the previous hearing had urged the court to quash the plea while contending that many political personalities may try to find an escape route if the details of the information revealed by Swapna Suresh gets leaked.

"Swapna's confidential statement was not listed under the evidence list in the report submitted to the court. The confidential statement given by Swapna was submitted in the court to seek custody of the accused. The accused cannot seek the report legally as it forms part of the investigation," the Customs had submitted.

"When Swapna had given the confidential statement to the probe team, she told the magistrate to seal it and keep it safe. Swapna feared a threat to her life and hence requested the magistrate to keep it safe," it had added.

The case pertains to the smuggling of gold in Kerala through diplomatic channels and is currently being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Customs Department. The opposition has been alleging the complicity of CM Pinarayi Vijayan in the scam and demanding his resignation after the role of his ex-Principle Secretary M Sivasankar came under the scanner, moreover, photos of the CM with Swapna Suresh have also come to the fore raising suspicion if the CM is complicit to the scam. Sivasankar has been arrested ED on October 28.

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What is the gold smuggling case?

On July 5, 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 Kumar, who worked at the UAE Consulate and was arrested, told the Customs about the role of Swapna Suresh, an ex-Consulate employee working as the manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited. The NIA which took over the case on July 9 confiscated a bag containing documents of dubious financial dealings while arresting Suresh and Nair.

The case took a political turn after photos of Suresh with CM Pinarayi Vijayan surfaced allegedly attending several parties where he was present. Moreover, Principal Secretary to CM M Sivasankar has been replaced after his role in hiring Swapna Suresh and his contact with her came under probe and has been questioned several times by the ED. The opposition has unsuccessfully moved a no-confidence motion against the CM, demanding his resignation.

Reportedly, the neighbours of Swapna Suresh have seen Sivasankar visiting her house quite often. This house has allegedly been used for planning the smuggling operations. The Customs raided his residence and obtained CCTV footage from various places where he met Swapna Suresh and other accused in the past few months.

(With ANI inputs)

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