Kerala gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh, on Tuesday, levelled serious allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after deposing before a court in Kochi.
Speaking to media after her deposition, Suresh said Vijayan was involved in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling scam. She claimed that a baggage containing currency was sent to Vijayan when he was in Dubai in 2016.
She said she told the court about the involvement of the chief minister, his former principal secretary M. Sivasankar, Vijayan's wife Kamala, daughter Veena, his additional private secretary C.M. Raveendran, former bureaucrat Nalini Netto and former minister K.T. Jaleel.
“It all started in 2016 when the chief minister was on a trip to the UAE. It was then that Sivasankar contacted me first since I was the secretary in the consulate. He told me the chief minister had forgotten to take one of his bags, and it had to be taken to Dubai immediately. We sent the bag to the CM through a diplomat in the consulate. When it was brought to the consulate, we found that there was currency in it. That is how it all started,” she said.
She said biryani vessels containing heavy metals used to be taken to the Cliff House, the official residence of the CM, from consulate general's house following the instructions of Sivsankar. "These vessels had heavy objects other than biryani. I can't reveal everything right now. I will make further revelations when the time is right," she added.
She claimed that although she gave detailed testimonies to central investigating agencies, there are still areas that need to be probed.
Sivasankar refused to comment when THE WEEK reached out to him.
(With inputs from Onmanorama)