Meet Kerala’s ‘gold’ girl ...now on the run
Swapna knew Arabic and had worked at UAE consulate
Business Editor
There’s one photo opportunity Swapna Suresh will not be appearing in… for now. It’s the ‘loot parade’ that anyone caught smuggling gold or other contraband through India’s airports have to go through. The images are then widely circulated on Indian media.
Swapna, a one-time UAE resident and ‘IT consultant’ with the Kerala government, is on the run after being accused in the case of 30kg of gold worth Dh7.4 million being smuggled in a diplomatic consignment meant for the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala.
Her associate, Sarith, who named her as an accomplice is now in custody and “helping with the enquiries”, according to a government official.
So, how did this one-time schoolgirl from Abu Dhabi — she was born here — become a fugitive? Some who knew her from those days cannot believe it is the same person.
‘Studies were not priority’
“Studies were never a priority for her … but she was well-liked and the impression most had was that she would marry early and settle down,” said someone who knew her and her family. “No one took her as being remotely interested in a career.”
Swapna’s father, according to multiple sources, tried his hand at running restaurants in
UAE, but they never clicked. It’s been some years since the family returned to Kerala and are living a comfortable life.
“We heard that Swapna got married, started a family and went through a separation,” a former family friend said. “And then for a long while nothing was heard about her.”
‘Influential person’
It was in January this year that Swapna joined the Kerala government’s IT wing, after a multiple-year stint with the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. The 39-year old is fluent in Arabic.
“At the consulate, she was responsible for the social activity calendar, and that made her an influential person to know,” said a senior Kerala bureaucrat. “It would have given her an opportunity to build a network of the powerful.”
Powerful mentor
Swapna is seen a recipient of former Kerala IT state secretary M. Sivasankar’s mentoring. “The question is how did Swapna manage to get a fairly well-paid — by government standards — job with hardly any qualifications,” the bureaucrat added. “If it’s true that she only had formal education up to school level, then who fast-tracked that appointment and why.
On Monday, Sivasankar was stripped of his twin roles, including as the principal official in the chief minister’s office. He has gone on leave, but the ongoing investigations will be asking some pointed questions to him.