Swapna Suresh accuses CM Vijayan of lying in Kerala gold scam; 'Scan CCTV from his house'

Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the Kerala gold scam case attacked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his remark in the state legislative assembly and accused him of lying in the state assembly. Notably, on Tuesday, Kerala CM denied the allegations of Swapna Suresh indicating his involvement in the gold smuggling case and said that Suresh has now been guided by Sangh Parivar forces.

Speaking to reporters over CM Pinarayi Vijayan's remark in Kerala legislative assembly, Swapna Suresh on Wednesday said, "Yesterday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan talked a lot of things at the Assembly. It came to my notice that he had told a lot of lies in order to mislead the public by standing in a very sacred place... The Chief Minister said that he has often seen me with the Consul General. There is no MEA approval for such meetings. All these meetings were facilitated through me by his point of contact, that is Sivasankar. All these meetings are against the protocol."

Demanding that CM Vijayan should release the CCTV footage of the Cliff House (CM's official residence) and the Secretariat from the year 2016 to 2020, Suresh said, "After 7 o’clock at night along with the Consul General, I went to Cliff House for secret meetings for their requirements. Also, I had gone alone there earlier. You can see in those visuals that there was no security check for me to go there."

Lambasting Kerala CM, Suresh who is a prime accused in the gold scam case said, "It is not ethical to mislead people by standing in the Assembly with so many blatant lies like saying that you do not know Swapna Suresh.”

Notably, on Tuesday, Pinarayi Vijayan slammed Swapna Suresh and said that she is a person who is accused in gold smuggling and other cases, adding further that the Congress-led opposition is treating her words as the ultimate truth and using them in the assembly. He also referred to her as someone who is now being guided by 'Sangh Parivar' forces.

It is pertinent to mention that Suresh had written a letter to PM Modi seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry in the case while adding that the scam is bigger than Bofors and 2G.

Swapna Suresh's claims

On June 8, Swapna Suresh came forth saying that a bag containing currency was sent to CM Vijayan when he was in Dubai in 2016. She also alleged that 17 tonnes of dates from UAE that had gone missing were within the incumbent Kerala Chief Minister's knowledge. 

The Kerala gold scam case is related to the case of gold smuggling through diplomatic channels. It came to the public’s eye when 30kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crore was being smuggled in consignment camouflage as diplomatic baggage. It was busted by the customs department in Thiruvananthpuram on 5 July 2019.

After being behind bars for 16 months on this case, Swapna Suresh was released. Earlier this year, Suresh made allegations that she was subject to exploitation by the former Principal Secretary of Kerala, M Sivasankar. This came after Shivashankar in his upcoming biography, Aswathamavu: Verum Oru Aana, alleged that Swapna had trapped him by gifting an iPhone. Shivshankar was arrested after the court had rejected his anticipatory bail and was later released on bail on February 4 last year.