Swapna indeed revealed names of politicians, avers top Customs officer Sumit Kumar

Swapna indeed revealed names of politicians, avers top Customs officer Sumit Kumar

Kochi: Customs Preventive Commissioner Sumit Kumar who supervised the probe into last year's gold smuggling bust at the Trivandrum International Airport averred that the accused Swapna Suresh had disclosed the names of top politicians who aided and abetted a related dollar smuggling racket.

Kumar, who has been transferred last month to Bhiwandi, near Mumbai, stood by his early claim that Swapna had given a statement claiming that dollar smuggling was carried out with the knowledge of Kerala Chief Minister and former Speaker as well as with the help of a few employees of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.

The racket behind the smuggling had misused the diplomatic baggage facility to sneak in gold from the Middle East.

During interrogation Swapna clearly admitted thatshe faced threat in the jail, Kumar asserted.

The Customs had only informed the court what Swapna said regarding her security in the jail and her connections. The Central Government has also been apprised of this matter, he told Manorama.

Kumar had informed the Kerala High Court about these matters in an explanatory note. The note was submitted by him in connection with the petition filed by the Jail DGP against the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court (Ernakulam) order to ensure adequate security for Swapna in the women's jail at Attakukangara in Thiruvananthapuram district.

On ex-minister Jaleel

Kumar also said show cause notice had been given to former minister K T Jaleel as part of certain procedures in connection with the dollar smuggling case.

Those steps were taken immediately. Now the cases have clear evidences, he said.

"There is no hesitation in taking action in such cases. Those things will happen as per the law. More show cause notices are being prepared in connection with dollar smuggling case. These would be sent to the persons concerned soon. We are discussing with the central government as to what can be done about the accused who had fled to foreign countries," Kumar revealed.

Money ploughed for anti-national activities

Kumar said during his tenure as the Commissioner (Preventive) large quantities of gold had been seized in Kerala. There were big gold seizures in Kerala and Lakshadweep.

The quantity of smuggled gold seized this year alone is nearing one tonne.

Kumar, who headed the Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive) in Kochi, also revealed that the money received thorough the gold smuggling to Kerala was being used for anti-national activities. The Customs has specific details and documents regarding such activities and the central government has been apprised about this matter.

Considering the increased smuggling, infrastructure facilities of Customs were developed on a large scale during my tenure, Kumar said.

Once Beypore port gets ready it would become one of the biggest ports in Asia. Beypore port would gain more importance than the Colombo port, he added.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.