KOCHI: The Special Court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases in Kochi on Monday granted permission to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to interrogate gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh and Sarith PS in jails for three days. The court also directed jail officials to maintain a distance during the interrogation so that they don’t overhear the statements given by the accused to ED officials.
The ED had requested the court to permit interrogation without the presence of any jail official. However, as per the Prisons Department norms, interrogation in a jail can be conducted only in the presence of a jail official. Considering it, the court directed superintendents of the respective jails where Swapna and Sarith are lodged to take necessary measures for interrogation. The court ruled that the interrogation should be held in the presence of a jail official but that person should stand at a distance from where he/she cannot hear the statement given by the accused to ED personnel.
The court directed ED that the interrogation should be done only between 10am and 4pm and there should be sufficient breaks in between sessions. The accused persons should not be harassed. The ED investigation officer and another officer assisting him reached Thiruvananthapuram to quiz the duo on Monday. Swapna is lodged in Attakulangara Women’s Jail and Sarith in Poojapura Central Jail. “We wanted to interrogate Swapna on Monday. But as she was being interrogated by another agency, we will question her on Tuesday,” an ED officer said.
Police special team quizzes Swapna over voice clip
T’Puram: The police special team on Monday questioned Swapna Suresh in connection with the probe into the “voice clip leak”. The special team led by ASP E S Bijumon visited Attakulangara women’s prison by 12.30pm and recorded her statement. The procedure lasted a little more than two hours, sources said. The police team completed the questioning before the Enforcement Directorate officials got hold of Swapna for another round of quizzing in connection with ongoing gold smuggling and reverse hawala case. The police team is probing the incident pertaining to leaking of audio clip purportedly that of Swapna. In the clip, Swapna was heard saying that she was being forced by the central agencies to give a statement against the chief minister.