Kerala ex-official seeks anticipatory bail
KOCHI: Swapna Suresh, the alleged kingpin behind a gold smuggling racket, on the run ever since Customs sleuths confiscated 30kg of gold from a diplomatic baggage at the Trivandrum International Airport on Sunday, moved the High Court on Thursday seeking anticipatory bail.
In her online bail application, Swapna claimed innocence and stated that she has no direct or indirect links to the gold smuggling racket.
She also said that she sought bail since she had nothing to reveal to the investigators.
Sandeep Nair, an accomplice of Swapna wanted by Customs, is also on the run since Sunday. Sandeep’s wife Soumya was interrogated by Customs officials on Wednesday.
Also on Thursday, Swapna released an audio clip to the media claiming that she had no connection with the smuggling case.
“The public should know this. I was framed with the chief minister, the Speaker and other politicians. They have taken me and my family to the verge of commiting suicide,” Swapna says in the clip. She also alleged that the media, along with others, are trying to influence the upcoming election. “This is not going to affect the chief minister or any other ministers in the government. It is only going to harm me and the three members in my family including my husband and two children. All of you will be responsible for the death of me and my family members. I am only staying away due to the threats raised against me and not because I am involved in the gold smuggling case,” she said.
Local media went to town with spicy stories of Swapna’s links with M Sivasankar, the principal secretary to the chief minister, known as his blue-eyed boy.
Themediaalsoranimagesclaiminghercloseness to powers that be, including Vijayan, who directly controls the information technology department.
Meanwhile, Kerala High Court on Thursday admited a plea seeking a federal investigation into the alleged role of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the smuggling scam.
Justice VG Arun listed the petition seeking a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as public interest litigation. Mathews Nedumpara, the counsel of the petitioner, Michael Varghese, also sought a federal probe into grat charges in four other deals under the duo.
Varghese said he was “aggrieved” by the lack of proper investigation on the involvement of the chief minister’s office in the gold smuggling scandal.