KOCHI: The enforcement directorate (ED) is proceeding cautiously in the money laundering case linked to the 2020 gold smuggling incident involving Swapna Suresh who recently levelled serious allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family members.
Top sources said ED will seek concrete evidence from Swapna substantiating her allegations when she appears before the agency on Wednesday. ED officials have gone though her CrPC Section 164 statement given before the magistrate recently. However, they maintain that a further investigation cannot be launched solely based on this statement.
“Swapna has claimed that there is evidence to substantiate the involvement of CM, his family members and bureaucrats regarding money laundering. We will look into the evidence she presents before the investigation team. After interviewing her on Wednesday and based on the evidence she presents, we will decide on the further investigation,” a source said. The ED maintains that Swapna and Sarith P S are still accused in the case, and not witnesses.
ED likely to question UAE Consulate staff again
The probe team is considering questioning officials of the UAE Consulate again to confirm whether there are any witnesses to the incidents alleged by Swapna. “The probe team had recorded the statements of Swapna and Sarith multiple times when they were in jail and after they came out on bail. We will check with people who had worked with Swapna and Sarith at the UAE Consulate to confirm whether incidents like biriyani vessels being transported from the consul-general’s house to Cliff House had taken place,” the source said.Swapna and Sarith had given two CrPC 164 statements each in the gold smuggling case and dollar smuggling case probed by the customs. Though the customs filed the chargesheet in the gold smuggling case, the agency decided not to turn Swapna and Sarith approvers.
“After giving 164 CrPC statements in our cases, we tried to gather evidence. But no evidence could be found. No witnesses gave a statement in this regard. Our team questioned former minister K T Jaleel and former speaker P Sreeramakrishnan. But due to lack of evidence, they were not arraigned,” a customs officer said.
ED TO GET COPY OF SWAPNA’S STATEMENT
Kochi: The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) Court on Monday allowed ED to get the CrPC Section 164 statement given by Swapna Suresh in the 2020 gold smuggling case probed by the customs. However, the court did not pass an order on the petition filed by ED to get Swapna’s statement in the dollar smuggling case. When the petitions filed by ED came up, the customs counsel submitted that the chargesheet has been filed in the gold smuggling case and the agency has no objection to giving a copy of Swapna’s statement to ED. However, in the dollar smuggling case, the customs is yet to complete adjudication process.