KOCHI: The Customs probing smuggling of gold through diplomatic channel on Friday interrogated chief minister’s former IT fellow Arun Balachandran at Customs office in Kochi.During the probe, it was revealed that the apartment near Secretariat where conspiracy was hatched to smuggle gold was arranged by Arun. He said the apartment was arranged on the direction of former principal secretary to CM M Sivasankar and rented to accused Swapna Suresh’s husband Jayashankar. He, along with Swapna, had organised international conferences for IT department when she was an employee there.
Arun was interrogated for nearly six hours. “He arrived at the Customs office around 12.30pm. The interrogation continued till 6.30pm. He was asked questions about his familiarity with some of the accused. Similarly, details regarding the apartment he arranged for the accused were collected. He will be interrogated again after verifying the statement given to us and a probe is on against him,” a Customs official said.Arun was terminated from his post after his links with the accused emerged. He was also removed from the post of executive member in Dream Kerala project.
Muraleedharan under shadow of doubt: CPM
T’Puram: Forced onto the backfoot due to the recent controversies, the CPM has found the arrest of journalist Anil Nambiar as a tool to attack BJP. The party on Friday claimed that the development has cast a shadow of suspicion over Union minister V Muraleedharan. “The interrogation of Anil Nambiar, a journalist with the pro-BJP channel Janam TV, in the gold smuggling case is a serious issue. As per media reports, Anil had directed Swapna Suresh to tell investigators that it was not diplomatic baggage.
This was Union Minister V Muraleedharan’s stand right from the beginning. It’s noticeable that even after the NIA and the Home Ministry made it clear that it was diplomatic baggage, he hadn’t changed his position. It gives rise to the suspicion that Muraleedharan was giving indirect suggestions to the accused,” said a statement issued by the CPM secretariat here on Friday.
Called Swapna just once: Anil Nambiar
Kochi: Janam TV coordinating editor Anil Nambiar on Friday came out with a clarification that he had contacted the former executive secretary of UAE consulate only once during the past one year. In a Facebook post, Anil Nambiar said he contacted Swapna on July 5 to get the version of UAE consulate regarding the use of diplomatic channel for gold smuggling.
“I never knew she had joined state government service. I contacted her to know the truth. I don’t understand why it is said I instructed her to say it was not a diplomatic baggage. The channel had given the version of UAE consulate prominently in the news bulletin at 2pm. Swapna was not under the cloud of suspicion when I contacted her. How can I foresee that a person whom I met in 2018 will turn a gold smuggler in future,” he wrote in the Facebook post.