KOCHI: The Kerala gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh's lawyer Sooraj T Elangickal on Friday termed as 'baseless' a report by DIG that she faced no security threat inside the jail.
The lawyer was responding to reporters' queries in Kochi about reports that DIG wrote to the Director-General of Prison and Correction Services that Swapna faced no threat to her life in the jail.
"The report by DIG is baseless. It was after hearing her, the court ordered security for Swapna inside the jail. The court took note of the gravity of the allegation after hearing Swapna," the counsel said.
On Tuesday, Swapna filed a complaint at the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) court that she was fearing for her life at Attakulangara Vanitha Jail in Thiruvananthapuram where she's lodged. In a written statement, she alleged that some police and jail officials visited her and insisted that she should name the influential persons in the case. She said her family members also are facing the threat.
Though she gave a statement to this effect later gave another statement to Jail DIG that she faced no threat and it was her lawyer who prepared such a complaint.
Elangickal said the report by DIG that he prepared the complaint without the knowledge of Swapna was not true. "Swapna told me that she is facing threat inside the jail and on this basis that I drafted and filed the complaint," he said.
Meanwhile, Elangickal will also appear for Sarith PS, the first accused in the gold smuggling case. Sarith's lawyer Vishnu Bhuvanendran decided to relinquish the Vakalath. Earlier, Swapna's lawyer Geo Paul also had relinquished the Vakalath.