Thiruvananthapuram: The UAE diplomatic baggage gold smuggling row took a new course with an apparently combative Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the case, replied to the references M Sivasankar has made in his recently released autobiographical book, Ashwathama, Just an Elephant.
Swapna, who countered Sivasaankar with serious allegations in a television interview, discarded his versions as lies. Apparently suggesting that Sivasankar was complicit in the case, she went on to add that if she wrote a book detailing the bureaucrat's true colours, it would be a bestseller.
Sivasankar, former principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, is currently secretary, Sports Affairs.
Following are the versions of Sivasankar and Swapna:
Sivasankar knew everything
Sivasankar: I came under suspicion after it was found that Swapna Suresh, my former friend and an ex-employee of the UAE Consulate, had a role in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case. The pace with which my name was dragged into the case -- alleging that Sivahankar had called from the Chief Minister's Office to influence customs officials to release the diplomatic baggage containing gold -- was surprising.
Swapna: Sivasankar had been aware that gold would be smuggled in diplomatic baggage. I had informed this to Sivasankar over the phone a day before the gold was confiscated. After enquiring, he asked me not to worry and that the baggage was being held back due to Covid. He also said that it would soon be released. I even went to his flat at 11 pm, and was informed that the baggage contained gold. He told me that the baggage would be released soon after contacting the customs. He had helped in the clearance of such baggage earlier too.
Personal companion till arrest
Sivasankar: I was shocked on learning that Swapna, a close friend for three years, had a role in this illegal activity. In my then state of mind, I was unable to comprehend the series of allegations levelled against me one after the other.
Swapna: Sivasankar had been my 'personal companion', and a part of life, for three years. He knew everything I had been privy to. He had on several occasions asked me to resign, saying the dealings of the Consulate were not safe. He stood by me until the gold was found, and then he washed his hands of me. If I had cheated him, he would have been arrested immediately after my arrest. I had to tell everything after six months when the investigating agencies interrogated me with evidence.
Close relationship
Sivasankar: When Swapna approached me seeking help to get the baggage released, I told her that the customs has their own procedures and it wouldn't be prudent on my part to interfere. Swapna and her husband Jayashankar visited me at my flat at Heather Tower, requesting my intervention to get the baggage released. I was also told that the baggage contained some non-duty paid articles (car stereo speaker, etc), someone had sent for her friend Sarith, and that it could have created the issue. I replied that I could not interfere in such matters.
Swapna: Considering our personal relationship, Sivasankar could never say no to me. Additionally, the Consulate General, too, had always told me to contact Sivasankar, since he was the point of contact in the government, for baggage clearance. Besides me, the PRO of the Consulate, Sarith, too, had contacted Sivashanker for getting several baggages cleared, and he had helped also.
The Ooty horse
Sivasankar: The customs opened the baggage on 05-07-2020 after getting clearance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and found the smuggled gold. Swapna and her family had by then fled.
Swapna: After the gold was found, and Sarith's arrest, Sivasankar called me three times. It was him who suggested leaving for Kochi and get anticipatory bail. He was coordinating and planning with my husband Jayashankar and Sandeep. He called me twice while I was on my way to Kochi. I did not go into hiding, but I was made to hide. Later, he decided on further moves, and informed me through Sandeep. I recorded an audio clip in Kochi and handed it over to Sandeep at his behest. I obeyed whatever he said like the horse in Ooty.
Sivasankar, the only contact
Sivasankar: BJP State president K Surendran held a news conference on 06-07-2020 and alleged that a prominent person from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) had contacted the customs. Soon after, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, too, raised the same allegation. When no one had called from the CMO, and the customs department never had a complaint that it had been under pressure from the CMO, what or who prompted these political leaders to raise such an allegation?
Swapna: It was Sivasankar who had interfered in the matters of the consulate. It was him who used to call the Customs. We had contacted only him.
Never cheated Sivasankar
Sivasankar: Whose interest was it that I should be under public gaze and seen as a criminal ever since the beginning of the probe? Where did the planning take place? The answer still evades me. Who all were part of the conspiracy?
Swapna: Sivasankar stood by me before my arrest. Investigation agencies never put pressure on me to name anyone. I had to tell everything when they presented my WhatsApp chats with Sivasankar. If I had cheated him, Sivasankar would have been in jail on day one itself. I lived according to his instructions for three years. Considering our close relationship, I had never hidden anything from him.
iPhone: Token of appreciation
Sivasankar: I received shocking news that Swapna had gifted me an iPhone on my birthday. It was alleged that it was one among the five iPhones that Swapna had received from Santhosh Eapen, CEO of Unitac the agency entrusted with the construction of a housing complex under Life Mission at Vadakkancherry. The complex was sponsored by UAE-based non-profit Red Crescent. It means that Swapna gifted me an iPhone she had received as a bribe. It was like offering Ganapati a coconut that was found on the road. I never expected such a deception from Swapna.
Swapna: The iPhone was not my birthday gift to Sivasankar. The Consul General gave it to me to hand it over to Sivasankar. The UAE was interested in the State government directly implementing the Life Mission project. The Consul General, however, wanted to implement it directly. His interest was in the commission. It was Sivasankar who helped in arriving at the decision to make the Consulate implementing the project directly.
Unitac was given the contract after discussions between Sivasankar and the Consul General, and the Consul General asked to give the iPhone as a token of appreciation. I told this to Sivasankar, who asked me to keep it at home, saying he would pick it up from there. When the phone he had been using developed some technical issues, he visited me and took the phone. The phones were sponsored by Santhosh Eapen.
Trips to unwind
Sivasankar: The Customs was mostly seeking documents regarding who had sponsored my foreign trips. All my trips abroad were for official purposes. The expenses were included in the projects concerned and borne by the establishments concerned under the IT department.
Swapna: He was a part of my life for three years, and used to visit my house every alternate day. We used to travel to Chennai or Bengaluru at least twice every month. We had even travelled abroad together. The trips were to relax. There is nothing to hide, and the trips have to be seen as undertaken by two individuals. We had visited Dubai, Oman several times, and they were not official trips. Maybe, attempts might have been made to make them official. He told me his plan to seek VRS and settle down in Dubai, away from media glare. He also promised a small business in Dubai.
No pressure to name anyone
Sivasankar: After 90 hours of interrogation, it became clear that the investigation agencies were under pressure to drag the chief minister into the case. The media had by them done the groundwork. However, some of the investigators were reluctant to drag the chief minister in without strong evidence. Since there was no evidence, they wanted a statement to implicate the chief minister. And they might have thought that they could easily get my statement against the chief minister if I was arrested.
Swapna: The probe agencies put no such pressure on me. They only enquired the circumstances under which I was photographed with the chief minister.
Sivasankar, the mastermind
Sivasankar: As the interrogation progressed, it became clear that the agencies' common goal was to establish that Swapna's illegal activities were for me, or with my help, or at least with my knowledge.
Swapna: I was mentally shattered when Sivasankar, who was a part of my life, behaved as if he did not know me at the Customs' office. I have information from a reliable source that he was the mastermind behind bringing the NIA into the probe. This move was made to keep me engaged in the customs case so that I won't come out and talk.
