Kochi: The Enforcement Directorate wants a court outside Kerala to consider the money laundering case linked to the sensational one regarding the smuggling of gold through diplomatic baggage.
The central agency has approached the Supreme Court to seek nod to transfer the case to the jurisdiction of a Bengaluru court. A high-level meet of ED officers in New Delhi gave the go-ahed for the move.
The plea seeking the apex court permission was filed by the ED assistant director for the Kochi zone.
Top Kerala bureaucrat M Sivasankar and his former associate Swapna Suresh are among the accused in the case.
The ED fears bid to scuttle the case by influencing witnesses; hence the move to transfer the case. Moreover, the likely political patronage to the accused and the links of political leaders are also concerns.
The alleged money laundering was carried out by Khalid Ali Shoukri, the former head of the finance section of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. As per the case $1.9 lakh was taken out of the country. Sivasankar was named as accused in the case based on the statements of Swapna.
Swapna and another accused P S Sarith had accompanied Khalid, who allegedly left for Oman with a bag containing the Dollars. They had accompanied him to avoid security checks at the Thiruvananthapuram airport, as per the statements, as they had managed passes for Green Channel facility.
Conspiracy behind Swapna's allegations, HC told
Meanwhile, the Kerala government has informed the High Court that the conspiracy case filed against gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh cannot be quashed.
The evidence collected during the investigation clearly reveal that Swapna had committed the offence, as per the report filed by Deputy Superintendent of Police P Rajkumar of the Special Investigation Team in response to the petition filed by Swapna, seeking to quash the conspiracy case.
This case was registered after she raised allegations against the Chief Minister and his family.
"There is a definite conspiracy behind the allegations raised by Swapna. Swapna along with P C George and certain others conspired to carry out a defamatory campaign against the Chief Minister and the government, thereby provoking the public and disrupting the law and order situation. Swapna and Sarith had gone to meet P C George who was at the government guest house at Thycaud on February 9 and 10, as per the statements of witness Saritha.
“It is suspected that more people are involved in the conspiracy. The allegations raised by Swapna through the media were culpable and irresponsible,” the report stated.
