Kerala Gold Scam: Swapna Suresh admits attending 'meeting' at CM Pinarayi Vijayan's house

Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case, done through the diplomatic channels has made a sensational revelation that has further embarrassed the Chief Minister of Kerala. She has revealed that she had attended a private meeting at Chief Minister's official residence in Thiruvananthapuram,  as per the statement given by her to the enforcement directorate ( ED). This confession was made on August 7, a month after she was caught by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Bengaluru.

Swapna was asked, "who is Sivashankar and how she got to know him?", to which replied, " Sivashankar is Secretary, electronics and information technology department, and principal secretary to the chief minister. He is also the chairman of KSITIL. I had met him after joining the consulate as part of the interactions between the UAE consulate and the Government of Kerala as he is the point of contact for the UAE consulate. In the year, 2017, during one of the private meetings between the Consul General of UAE Consulate, Trivandrum and CM at the residence of the Chief Minister of Kerala, CM had unofficially informed that Shri Sivasankar, IAS would be the point of contact between the Government of Kerala and UAE Consulate. Thereafter, for all matters related to UAE  Consulate, Sivasankar Sit used to call me as I being the secretary to the Consul General. Similarly, I used to contact him for all the official matters related to UAE Consulate and thereby we developed our relation [sic]."

READ | Kerala gold smuggling: CM Vijayan aware of accused Swapna Suresh's appointment, claims ED

Of the 41 questions asked by the CM another question by ED on how she was selected for the Space Park project by Sivashankar, she again took Pinarayi Vijayan's name. She said, " I am known to Sivasankar sir very closely and I also have known to CM from time to time when I was secretary to the Consul General... [sic]."

She also testified that she believed her trustworthiness and reliability was the reason she was offered job at the Space Park project. "My appointment in space part was with the knowledge of the CM [sic]," she said.

READ | Gold smuggling case: Accused Swapna Suresh granted bail by Kochi court in Customs case

Opposition plans big stir

The opposition has decided to pitch up their protest bugle. The  United Democratic Front (UDF) convener M M Hassan stated on Sunday that they would launch protest across 420 centres in the state to expose Pinarayi Vijayan's collusion and relationship with the prime accused.

BJP State President  K Surendran noted that the deposition was an affirmation of what he has been saying for a long time. The party also released an old video of Surendran stating that CM knew Swapna since 2017. The BJP plans to intensify its protest demanding CM resignation.

Earlier, Swapna's statement that she had met Vijayan 5 to 6 times along with former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister M. Sivasankar had come out.  This was a statement in the ED charge sheet submitted in the special court in Kochi. In it, it also stated Vijayan was aware of  Swapna's appointment to the Space Park.

READ | Kerala gold smuggling case: NIA summons Sivasankar again; to be quizzed with Swapna Suresh

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