A scared Pinarayi Vijayan, who was named by Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in Kerala Gold Scam Case, has told the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police to register a case against Enforcement Directorate (ED), for forcing Suresh to give statements against CM.
ED, the premier Union government agency that investigates financial crimes, is still interrogating Swapna Suresh, who told the agency that the CM of state and his secretaries are involved in the scam. The Kerala assembly election is a few months away, and the case is costing heavily to Vijayan and CPM.
As per the FIR filed by the Crime Branch of Kerala Police, the ED forced Swapna Suresh to give false statements against the Chief Minister. “…the ED officials, probing the gold smuggling case while questioning an accused named Swapna Prabha Suresh on August 12 and 13, 2020, have forced her to give false statements against the state chief minister in order to make fake evidence…,” reads the copy of the FIR.
Vijayan’s desperation to get a clean chit shows how big an issue it has become in the 2021 assembly elections. Previously, in a shocking revelation by Suresh, the names of the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan and three other cabinet ministers from the Kerala government have surfaced. She mentioned that the illegal activities were being carried out through diplomatic channels, right under the CM’s nose.
Suresh also mentioned the name of the speaker of the house, P Sreeramakrishnan, who according to her was well-aware of the ongoing gold smuggling. The customs department recorded her statement under Section 164 CrPc and Section 108 of the Customs Act. Swapna Suresh was a former executive secretary at the UAE Consulate-General Office in Thiruvananthapuram.
Suresh mentioned the hand in gloves of a former secretary working in the nexus between the high officials of the Kerala government, prominent politicians, and the UAE Consulate officials. It was stated that they were, allegedly, working in a smuggling ring. In addition to this, it was also speculated that they were processing illegal financial activities covertly under the diplomatic hat.
The gold smuggling case of Kerala came to light in July 2020 and by now, more than 30 accused have been arrested. TFI reported that the scam was being used to finance terror operations in the country. As various reports surfaced regarding the growing number of radicalised youth joining terrorist organisations in Kerala, funding through illegal financial channels seems evident.
30 kilograms of gold worth Rs 15 crores seized by the Customs department was found in diplomatic cargo addressed to the UAE -consulate- General Office in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Kerala assembly election 2021 is scheduled next month, and revelations are proving a big jolt to the incumbent Pinarayi Vijayan government. BJP’s growing influence and the corruption case will be giving a serious dent to the ruling party in the assembly elections.
BJP has the Metro Man, E Sreedharan, on its side and declared him as the CM face. Moreover, many prominent Congress leaders who are fed up with Rahul Gandhi’s incompetent leadership have also joined BJP, and this is set to give a big fillip to the party as well as the incumbent CM Vijayan in the assembly election.
