Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 9 (PTI) Days after making startling revelation against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Swapna Suresh, key accused in the gold smuggling case on Thursday claimed a person approached her to settle the issue created following her statement made before a magistrate court early this week, as opposition parties stepped up their protest against the CM in different parts of the state over the matter.
In her anticipatory bail plea moved before the High Court, Suresh claimed a man named Shaji Kiran came to her office at Palakkad to settle the issue created as a result of her Section 164 statement before a magistrate court in Kochi two days ago.
She made the claim in the plea seeking protection from arrest in the case lodged by police on ruling LDF MLA and former minister K T Jaleel’s complaint, alleging conspiracy behind her revelations against him, the chief minister and his family.
The high court dismissed the anticipatory bail plea jointly moved by Suresh and co-accused in the gold smuggling scam Sarith P S, saying the offences (conspiracy, among others) she has been booked for in the FIR were bailable and that the latter was not even an accused in the case.
Police on Wednesday had lodged the case under Sections 153 (giving provocation with intent to cause a riot) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code against Suresh on the basis of Jaleel’s complaint.
As the issue continued to keep the political pot boiling in Kerala, Suresh, in the plea claimed Kiran was introduced to her by former principal secretary to the chief minister M Sivasankar in the past as a person very close to the CM and other Left leaders.
It also claimed he pressured Suresh and Sarith to ‘surrender’ before the CM and to give a statement that what she deposed before the court was at the instigation of her lawyers, RSS and the BJP. He also allegedly threatened them with dire consequences if they do not do as he instructed, the petition further claimed.
Hours after the plea was filed in the High Court, Kiran came on a TV channel introducing himself as “Shaj” Kiran and claimed that Suresh had been his friend for the last two months and that he did not pressure her to withdraw the 164 statement.
He claimed that he was called to her office by Suresh in Palakkad on Wednesday and while there he had only asked why she made the revelations now and whether she was aware of the problems she would have to face as a result.
He also categorically denied having been sent there to settle the issue and said even Suresh might not know such things have been stated in her plea.
Talking to reporters immediately after her plea was dismissed by the court, Suresh admitted that Kiran was her close friend and that he visited her based on her request but alleged that he tried to debilitate her mentally and tried to settle the case by withdrawing her 164 statement.
She said Kiran was called as he had warned two days ago that Sarith would be abducted. After Sarith was picked up from her home in Palakkad, Kiran had again called her to inform that it was the sleuths from the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau and that he will be released in 45 minutes, she claimed.
Suresh alleged that Kiran had asked her to hand over her phone to a mediator–namely Nikesh Kumar who would meet her and if she does so, all the cases against her will be settled.
She also said phone recordings of her conversation with Kiran will be released tomorrow.
Meanwhile, police tightened the probe into the complaint filed by Jaleel against Suresh by constituting a 12 member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Crime Branch SP S Madhusoodanan and has directed it to expedite the investigation in the case and file a report fortnightly.
Besides the Crime Branch SP, the SIT comprises one ACP, 9 DySPs and one Inspector, official sources said.
The sources also said that the probe would be conducted under the supervision of Crime Branch ADGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb.
As the claims and counter claims by the persons involved in the case continued, the opposition Congress and the BJP intensified their protests on the streets across the state seeking resignation of Chief Minister Vijayan.
The opposition party activists clashed with police across the state alleging that the Chief Minister was trying to escape the probe through “blatant abuse of power misusing police.
Police used water cannons to disperse the agitated activists, who tried to break the barricade raising slogans and holding placards and banners, in Thrissur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram.
In Ernakulam, a group of Youth Congress activists under the aegis of the District Congress Committee (DCC), displayed symbolic models of gold biscuits and biryani vessels and raised slogans against the Chief Minister while Mahila Congress activists conducted a protest ‘biriyani challenge’ in front of the secretariat in the state capital.
Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan expressed hope that Vijayan would show the wisdom to resign from the top office at least now.
However, Jaleel reiterated Suresh was a person who had been in jail for a year and a half in connection with the gold smuggling case and what she was saying against him and the chief minister and his family were “blatant lies.” Jaleel said any central agency can probe the charges against him and the CM and claimed that nothing suspicious could be found if they do so for a thousand years.
Meanwhile, senior politician P C George, who had claimed that he had the copy of a letter written by Suresh detailing the charges against the Chief Minister, said he did not understand why a case was registered against him along with Suresh based on the complaint of Jaleel which demanded a probe into the alleged conspiracy behind the new revelations.
BJP state chief K Surendran termed Vijayan as a “coward” for registering the case against George and said the decision was condemnable.
A probe should be carried out against the revelations by Suresh, he added.
Triggering a political storm in the state, Suresh on Tuesday claimed that she disclosed before the court — in her statement under Section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code — the other people allegedly involved in the smuggling cases and their “degrees of involvement.” She said she had given statements against the CM, his family, Jaleel and some other top bureaucrats.
After her revelations before the media, subsequent to recording her Section 164 statement, Vijayan had issued a statement dismissing Suresh’s claims and allegations as “baseless”.
Suresh, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with another accused Sandeep Nair from Bengaluru on July 11, 2020.
The NIA, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Customs conducted separate probes into the racket that was busted with the seizure of gold worth Rs 15 crore from the diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5, 2020.
Several people, including M Sivasankar, the former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and another ex-employee of the UAE Consulate here, Sarith, were arrested in connection with the case. PTI HMP LGK COR TGB SA SA
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