KOCHI: A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan replied to Opposition queries regarding the 2020 gold smuggling case in the assembly, key accused Swapna Sures h claimed that he was lying to the public. She said the CM’s daughter Veena was the master brain behind the Sprinklr deal.
Speaking to reporters in Kochi on Wednesday, Swapna said she was responding to statements made by the CM in the assembly on Tuesday. “Standing at a divine place like the assembly, the CM said several lies to the public. The CM said Shaj Kiran was not a mediator. If then, why was ADGP Ajith Kumar transferred? Why was a case registered against me for giving a (CrPC Section) 164 statement? The bailable charge against me was turned into a non-bailable case after recording the statement of Saritha S Nair. Why has no action been taken against Shaj Kiran? At first, the CM said he didn’t know me. I along with (the UAE) consul-general met the CM several times at various functions and Cliff House. There was no approval from the Union ministry of external affairs for such meetings,” she said.
Swapna repeated that she along with the consul-general visited Cliff House after 7pm for secret meetings. She said it is not ethical to mislead the public sitting in the state assembly. “I had visited Cliff House even alone. The CM should release the CCTV footage of Cliff House and Secretariat from 2016 to 2020 to prove his innocence before the public,” she said.
According to her, she is sure that a bag containing currency notes was sent with the help of a diplomat while the CM was on a tour to the UAE. According to her, she has not changed her statement till now. She also said the database of Kerala people was sold. “I was working in the Kerala government’s key project named Spacepark when Sprinklr controversy was raging. Veena was the master brain behind the deal. The relationship of Veena with PricewaterhouseCoopers has been known to everyone,” she said.
Unable to provide security to Swapna, ED tells court
Kochi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday submitted at the Special Court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kochi that it cannot arrange security for gold-smuggling accused Swapna Suresh. She had filed a petition seeking security arrangements from the part of the central agency which is probing the money laundering aspect behind the 2020 diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case.