Thiruvananthapuram: The office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in increasingly coming under fire in the 30 kg gold smuggling case involving the former PRO of the UAE consulate.
Besides the arrested person, a woman Swapna Suresh who was now working in the state IT department headed by senior IAS officer and secretary to Vijayan, M Sivasankar is considered close to the individual arrested in connection with the gold smuggling.
After the case came to light, M Sivasankar was removed from office and has been placed under suspension, said sources.
According to reports, the Customs department officials on Monday arrested a man, who claimed himself to be a former employee of foreign country’s consulate in Kerala, in connection with the seizure of gold worth over Rs 25 crore from a “diplomatic baggage” at an airport in the state.
The man was arrested following his interrogation in connection with the seizure of gold from the diplomatic baggage from Thiruvananthapuram international airport on Sunday, the Customs officials said.
The gold weighing over 30 kg was seized from a diplomatic baggage that had landed by air cargo at Thiruvananthapuram international airport recently.
The Customs has said it suspected a smuggling syndicate had misused the name of a person who enjoys diplomatic immunity.
On Monday, Customs personnel said they were looking for a woman, also a former employee of the consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, in connection with the case.
The opposition Congress and BJP alleged the woman was now working in the state IT department and sought a CBI probe as they targeted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who holds the portfolio.
However, chief minister Vijayan said he was unaware of the factors behind the appointment of the woman and would look into the matter.
Customs officials said the arrested man appeared to be involved in the “illegal trade” and “handled fictitious kinds of documents” in connection with the case.
According to them, the man did not cooperate with the agency in the investigation, which is a criminal offence. “Law says if somebody is guilty of offence in an illegal trade involving over Rs 1 crore, then he has to be produced before the magistrate for judicial custody. We are doing that,” Customs Commissioner (Preventive) Sumit Kumar
Officials said the man had not been working for the consulate for at least one year.
“Prior to that he claims to be an employee of the consulate. He had some fake, old identity card. But during the process he had been operating on behalf of the consulate, misleading people. He even had called senior officials using his fake ID,” official sources said.
Noting that suspected smuggling of gold worth over Rs 25 crore was not by “a small chain”, the official said it was very clear that the cover of diplomatic consignment was being used for the purpose.
Airport sources had said the gold was concealed in a baggage consisting of bathroom equipment.
After the seizure, Customs Commissioner (Preventive) Sumit Kumar had said: “We suspect scamsters have used the name of the consignee with diplomatic immunity… It is understood the syndicate operating behind this has filed the papers for the consignment in the name of a person with diplomatic immunity.”
In Thiruvananthapuram, senior Congress Leader Ramesh Chennithala sought a CBI probe into the matter alleging that the Chief Minister’s Office had “become a den of criminals”, a charge rejected by Vijayan.
State BJP chief K Surendran claimed the customs authorities had received a call from the CMO soon after the seizure.
The IT department is under the Chief Minister and his Principal secretary M Sivasankar holds additional charge of Secretary of the department also.
When the media sought his response to the charges of the opposition leaders, the Chief Minister said he was not aware about the factors behind the woman’s appointment and the matter would be looked into.
Chennithala alleged the Chief Minister’s Office tried to interfere in the matter.
“A criminal gang is operating in the CM’s office. The chief minister should clarify about the persons from his office who allegedly tried to interfere in the investigation.
“The IT department is directly under chief minister. How does a person facing a crime branch probe get a job in the department? I demand a CBI probe to bring out the matter,” Chennithala said.
The BJP chief also alleged the woman was earlier questioned by the crime branch in another case and sought to know how she was appointed in the IT department.
However, official sources said the woman appointed as coordinator on contract for six months in the Space Park under the IT department has been sacked in the backdrop of her name cropping up in the gold smuggling case.
Ramesh Chennithala has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a probe by the CBI or Enforcement Directorate (ED) to unravel the gold smuggling case, where the name of the UAE Consulate also figures.
“I write this letter as Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly with utmost concern at the misuse of diplomatic immunity of UAE Consulate, here by international gold smuggling cartels with the collusion of officials working under Government of Kerala who have deep rooted connections with decision makers at the office of Chief Minister. I solicit your immediate intervention to investigate into his nefarious act, which has serious implications on India’s national security and the potential to irreparably damage the age old friendly ties between India and the UAE. In this contest I request an investigation into the matter by agencies like CBI and the ED,” said Chennithala.
On Tuesday, Vijayan was closeted with the state police chief and the chief secretary.
What has stung many is the way a woman Swapna Suresh has made inroads into the seat of power.
She was earlier working with Air India’s ground handling agency after which she joined the UAE Consulate here. Here she came in touch with its PRO Sarith who is currently under arrest in the gold smuggling case, while Swapna is on the run.
Sarith and Swapna are now no longer with the UAE Consulate.
Various reports have come out that Swapna and Sivasankar were good friends and he was a regular visitor at her house. It was through these contacts that she got a plush job in the IT department which is looked after by Vijayan and Sivasankar.
“Just look at her salary, it’s mind boggling. What sort of interview or test was done to recruit her in the IT department, when she is only an ordinary graduate and one does not know what her experience is. It’s a shame on what we are seeing in Kerala which involves links with smugglers,” said former State Minister and senior RSP leader Shibhu Baby John.
Senior BJP leader PK Krishnadas came down heavily on Vijayan and said he is continuing to protect Sivasankar.
“Sivasankar is only removed as Vijayan’s secretary, while he continues to hold the IT secretary post and this is because he is getting lot of support from Vijayan’s daughter (who has an IT firm). The Special Branch police had informed Vijayan about Swapna’s not too clean record as she had a case against her, but all this was overlooked and she was appointed in a high paying job with practically no qualifications for such a job,” Krishnadas.
The UAE consulate, however, denied any involvement of its personnel in this case and said that the person who is in custody was dismissed from the consulate much earlier.
On Sunday, the Air Customs attached to the Thiruvananthapuram airport had made a seizure of 30 kg of gold that arrived on a cargo flight and was kept in a warehouse here for release. The baggage had arrived from Dubai and is understood to have been marked to the UAE Consulate which has its office in the heart of the city.