Gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh appears before ED, seeks time

Kochi: Following fresh revelations by the prime accused in the infamous gold smuggling case — Swapna Suresh who was asked to appear before the Enforcement Directorate officials in Kochi, did on Tuesday and sought a few more days time as she was unwell.

Swapna after presenting herself before the ED officials here informed them that she is unwell.

“I had told the officials that I am unwell and I requested for some more time, which they agreed. I said I will return in a few days and appear before them,” said Swapna to the media.

This case resurfaced last month when an autobiography written by then principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan – M. Sivasankar revealed that “he never did any favour to Swapna” and also added that “he never knew the iPhone that was gifted to him by her was part of a bribe”.

Angered by this statement, Swapna said, “it was Sivasankar who destroyed my life and all what I knew, he also knew”.

She also pointed out that he had told her that he will take voluntary retirement and settle down with her in the UAE.

She said that it was with his help that she, along with her husband and children and their friend Sandip Nair, managed to sneak out of Kerala, when the gold smuggling case surfaced in July 2020, when the entire state was under massive Covid travel restrictions. Another revelation was that of the two audio clips of hers, one which came out on the day she and her family were on the run to Bengaluru and another while in custody, she said, it was all stage managed and directed by Sivasankar and others.

Meanwhile, the other central agencies — Customs and Intelligence Bureau have also registered cases supplementary to the gold smuggling case and in all these Swapna is an accused and now out on bail.

And according to sources in the know of things, these agencies are also examining the fresh revelations and are likely to give her notice to appear before them to find out more.

(IANS)