Thiruvanthapuram: The Crime Branch will question former legislator PC George over an alleged plot against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by linking him to an overseas smuggling and money laundering racket. He will be summoned to Thiruvananthapuram on Friday for interrogation.
George has been named as an accused in the case registered over the alleged conspiracy. Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the diplomatic baggage gold-smuggling case is another accused. The complaint in this regard was filed earlier this month by former minister KT Jaleel.
Swapna, a former UAE Consulate employee, recently confided to the Magistrate about the involvement of the CM, his family members, Jaleel, former Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and CM's former principal secretary M Sivasankar in a money laundering bid. She also claimed that a baggage containing currency was sent to the CM when he was in Dubai in 2016.
Swapna gave the confidential statement as per Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code in connection with a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The alleged money laundering is linked to the gold smuggling case.
Later Swapna also claimed CM Vijayan and his family members as well as CPM State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan are involved in shady deals overseas.
In response to the allegations, Jaleel filed a complaint alleging the whole episode was a conspiracy hatched by Swapna, former MLA PC George and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He also sought a probe into Swapna's charges.