"No Agenda": Kerala Gold Smuggling Accused On Naming Chief Minister

Swapna Suresh, an accused in the gold smuggling in diplomatic bags case that rocked Kerala before the 2021 assembly polls, on Wednesday said her allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his family members and some top bureaucrats were not made due to some personal or political agenda.

She claimed that she only disclosed before the court, in her statement under section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code, the people allegedly involved in the cases against her and their "degrees of involvement".

Ms Suresh said that she gave the statement because there were threats to her life and if something happened to her or her family members, she may not have the courage to come forward and speak about the case.

"Therefore, to be on the safe side I deposed all the statements before the court with the facts," she said and added that she has not finished what she has to say about the cases.

"There is a lot more for me to say", she added.

Ms Suresh was speaking to reporters at Palakkad a day after the Chief Minister dismissed her claims/allegations as "baseless".

Strongly reacting to the charges, the Chief Minister, in a statement, said, "unsubstantiated allegations have been made through the media from some quarters for narrow political reasons" and this was "part of some political agenda".

"Such an agenda was rejected by the people earlier. After a break, the old things are repeated by the accused in the case. There is not even a shred of fact in it", Mr Vijayan said.

He said if those raising such allegations think that the will of his government and its political leadership can be shattered by spreading lies again, it will not succeed.

The CPI(M) and the party-led LDF had also issued statements strongly defending Vijayan. The Left claimed there was a "political conspiracy" to tarnish the image of the Vijayan-led government and it was evident from Suresh's allegations.

LDF convener E P Jayarajan told media that there was "well-planned conspiracy" behind the "baseless allegations" against the CM and the state government should investigate the matter and find out who all were behind it.

He alleged that Ms Suresh was working in an organisation controlled by the RSS and therefore, she was under their control.

Jayarajan also said the Chief Minister is neither required to respond to such "dirty" allegations nor resign from his office.

He reiterated that there should be a probe to ascertain who were behind the allegations made against the Chief Minister.

When told about the LDF convener's demand for an investigation into who were behind the allegations, Ms Suresh asked why no inquiry was carried out when terror charges were imposed on her and she was put behind bars for 16 months.

She alleged that no investigation was carried out into the terror allegations against her as those behind it were sure she would never come out of jail.

She further alleged that while in jail she was "tortured and mentally harassed" by the senior jail officers leading to her suffering from a heart attack, which was termed by them as a drama, and later she repeatedly suffered from fits.

Ms Suresh said as a result of the mental torture she underwent, she is now suffering from several ailments.

She said what she has disclosed now was not meant to defame anyone or remove anyone from their post, nor was it a publicity stunt to create an image for herself.

"I do not believe in politics. I actually do not care who is the CM now or then. I do not care who is going to rule the state. I also do not believe statements which claim what I said is part of a conspiracy, as I do not have any political or personal agenda.

"....I was in jail for 16 months. My kids suffered. I lost my job. They were exploiting and manipulating me. Now I just want to live and raise my kids. Please allow me to do that. Other than that I have no agenda," she said.

On being asked whether she spoke to P C George or gave anything to him in writing, Suresh said what she would like to highlight was that "no one should view her 164 statement as an opportunity and use it".

"That is my humble request... Do not use this as an opportunity for somebody else's income or somebody else's weapon. For God's sake please do not use it like that," she said.

Suresh said she met a lot of people after her earlier interviews and therefore, "let's not talk about P C George".

"Let's not give importance to unwanted people," she added.

She further said she has no connection with Saritha S Nair, an accused in the solar panel scam, and claimed that the latter has been repeatedly calling her mother for help ever since Suresh got out of jail.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) said they will be holding protests this evening as part of their 'black day' campaign demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

KPCC general secretary T U Radhakrishnan said that Congress workers across the state would be holding black flags and chanting slogans demanding Vijayan's resignation in the wake of the allegations against him in connection with the gold smuggling case.

Senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy said the truth should come out and that it cannot be hidden away.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, V D Satheesan, had on Tuesday said that a court-monitored investigation should be carried out in view of the latest revelation of Suresh.

After giving a statement before the Magistrate on Monday, Suresh had said there was a threat to her life and therefore, she was going to disclose all the facts related to the case before the court.

She was released from jail in November last year, 16 months after her arrest in the sensational gold smuggling case.

Suresh, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with another accused Sandeep Nair from Bengaluru on July 11, 2020.

The NIA, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Customs conducted separate probes into the racket that was busted with the seizure of gold worth Rs 15 crore from the diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5, 2020.

Several people, including M Sivasankar, the former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and another ex-employee of the UAE Consulate here, Sarith P S, were arrested in connection with the case.