Published 19:13 IST, July 15th 2020
Kerala gold smuggling case: NIA raids KSITIL office where Swapna Suresh worked
NIA conducted raids at KSITIL (Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd) which lasted for more than 2 hours where key accused Swapna Suresh worked
Advertisement
In the latest development in the gold smuggling scandal, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted raids at KSITIL (Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd) which lasted for more than two hours where key accused Swapna Suresh worked. The company, which falls under the state IT department, had another key accused IAS M Sivasankaran as secretary, and Suresh was hired for the post of operations manager by him.
The Customs department had last night grilled M Sivasankar, also former Principal Secretary to Kerala CM, who allegedly has close links Swapna Suresh, who is currently under NIA custody, and Sandeep Nair.
Interrogated for 10 hours
The Customs raided the residence of Sivasankar last week and also obtained some CCTV footage from various places where he met Swapna Suresh and her crime partners in the last few months. The Customs also have gathered a copy of call records between both of them.
There was anticipation initially that he will be arrested and produced before the magistrate on Wednesday for further interrogation, but he was let off around 2.30 am on Wednesday after 10 hours of questioning by assistant Commissioner of Customs investigation wing Ramamurthy.
Various questions regarding the appointment of Swapna Suresh and including her dubious fake education certificates were also asked according to the sources and whether someone recommended her for this job of operations manager in the government based KSITI Ltd.
The neighbours of Swapna Suresh have also seen Sivasankar visiting the residence of Swapna Suresh and the CCTV footage which the wing has gathered also has proved that. Her house has allegedly been a place of planning for the whole smuggling operations since Sandeep Nair was also part of the meetings.
Chief Secy probing links to CMO
CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday informed that the state Chief Secretary is conducting a probe into the connections of the CMO with the case. Vijayan added that Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta is probing the call records as well which reveal that the former principal secretary to the CM had made calls to the key accused in the smuggling. The Chief Minister also stated that the appointment of accused Swapna Suresh in the IT department is being probed as well.
Chief Minister Vijayan has stated that once the investigation panel headed by the Chief Secretary submits its report, the government will then take appropriate action.
NIA continues investigation
The NIA had taken over the case after Centre's nod on July 9. The investigative agency will probe whether the gold smuggling was linked to activities detrimental to national security. The agency has slapped various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 against the accused — Sarith Kumar, Swapna Suresh, Fazil Fareed, Sandeep Nair — in the case. Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair have been sent to NIA custody for eight days. NIA has moved the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to issue a Blue Corner Notice against Faizal Fareed.
19:13 IST, July 15th 2020