Conspiracy case: HC to consider Swapna Suresh's pleas today

Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case. Photo: Manorama
Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case. Photo: Manorama

Kochi: The Kerala High Court will pronounce its verdict on the pleas filed by Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case that rattled the state, on Friday.

Swapna's pleas seek to quash the cases filed against her for allegedly conspiring to cause a riot in the state through her recent revelations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family.

She had alleged that they were involved in several anti-national activities, including gold smuggling.

Swapna's remarks came in a confidential statement she had filed in the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court in connection with the gold smuggling case.

Her statement also names former Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan, former principal secretary to CM, M Sivasankar, and some top bureaucrats.

Cases were filed against her in Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad. One of the complainants is former minister KT Jaleel, who is also named in Swapna's statement.

She said that she was cautioned against revealing these facts to the central agencies before, but added that she decided to disclose the information citing the harassment she had to endure these past months.

"I feel threatened by the police. The Customs Department has deliberately buried my secret statement without due follow-up," Swapna said.

Justice Riyad Rehman's bench will pronounce the verdict on Swapna's pleas on Friday.

It was in mid-2020 that the Customs busted a smuggling racket linked to the consulate. Swapna was then working at the Thiruvananthapuram Consulate of the United Arab Emirates.

The probe revealed that consular staff were hand in glove with gold smugglers in Kerala and the Middle East.

They used the diplomatic baggage to carry out smuggling. Money laundering also was likely attempted by the syndicate that enjoyed political patronage.

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