KOCHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan failed to appear before the Customs for interrogation multiple times, the agency questioned him at his official residence in Thiruvananthapuram as part of a probe to dollar smuggling case on Thursday.
The interrogation lasted for nearly five hours and Sreeramakrishnan has been directed to appear before the agency again if required.
The questioning of the Speaker was confirmed by his office as well. According to Customs sources, Sreeramakrishnan was directed to appear for interrogation on Thursday. However, citing medical reasons, he did not turn up.
"As he frequently avoiding interrogation, our officers visited him at his official residence in Thiruvananthapuram. However, the entire interrogation procedure could not be completed. He has been informed to appear for questioning in the future. We will issue a notice for interrogation again," sources said.
On Friday evening, Speaker came up with a Facebook video after there were reports that he may commit suicide. Even though, he denied about suicide attempt but did not disclose about Customs interrogation.
It was the revelations made by accused persons Swapna Suresh and Sarith PS that led to the interrogation of the Speaker. Swapna and Sarith had revealed that Sreeramakrishnan had handed over a bag containing currencies which were handed over to diplomat of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.
Both alleged that Speaker had investments in an educational institution in Oman. Speaker had met a member of the Sharjah Royal family at Thiruvananthapuram for starting an educational institute and getting land for it in Sharjah. Swapna also claimed that Speaker talked to her with filthy intentions.
The Dollar smuggling case was registered after Swapna revealed that Khalid Ali Shoukry former finance head of the UAE Consulate had smuggled out 1.9 lakh US Dollars from Thiruvananthapuram in August 2019.
The amount was received as commission given by Unitac Builders for sanctioning the LIFE Mission project in Wadakkancherry. There are six accused persons including former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar in the case.