Kochi: It was a Customs superintendent who had leaked a portion of the report on the statement given by Swapna Suresh, the second accused in the Thiruvananthapuram airport gold smuggling case, during interrogation, sources said.
However, only three pages of the statement have been leaked to the media.
The Intelligence Bureau, who is probing the incident, reportedly found that the superintendent of Customs had copied the statement on his own phone, but sent it from the phone of his wife.
It is learnt that the official concerned is currently on deputation at the GST Intelligence department. According to the IB, the superintendent could leak only the details given by Swapna about Janam TV coordinating editor Anil Nambiar.
The IB investigation came after Customs commissioner Sumit Kumar asked for an inquiry into the matter.
Assistant Commissioner of Customs N S Dev had to stay away from the investigations after Swapna’s statement got out. However, the IB report states that he was not involved in the leak.
The IB subjected the leaked file to detailed digital scrutiny.
The agency found out the mobile phone and the camera that was used to copy the report, the phone from which it was sent and its IME number to ascertain who was responsible for giving the details to the media.
The report on Swapna’s questioning was prepared on the same day she was interrogated. The superintendent of Customs copied the report that very day using his phone.
He transferred the file to his wife’s phone using bluetooth. He then sent it out from his wife’s phone using the internet, the IB report said.
The Customs had assigned a three-member team to record Swapna’s statement. Two of them were men and one was a woman. Of these, the officer who had led the recording of the statement was the one who had leaked the information,
The IB said that the investigation report was leaked with a specific aim. The fact that only the information against Anil Nambiar had been leaked excluding other parts of the statement had already given rise to suspicion that one of the Left-leaning officials was behind the leak.
The IB’s report submitted to Customs Preventive Commissioner Sumit Kumar has confirmed these suspicions. Indications are that in the coming days action will be taken against the person responsible for the leak.
The IB has also asked the Union Home Ministry to further investigate the officer found to have leaked the statement.
