Kerala CM’s Office releases previous video to counter Swapna Suresh’s declare

By PTI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Seeking to counter gold smuggling case prime accused Swapna Suresh’s newest declare about her once-close connections with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his household, the CMO on Wednesday launched a two-year-old video wherein he was seen saying that she had visited his official residence right here a number of occasions together with the then UAE Consulate General for official objective.

The brief video, launched by the Chief Minister’s Office in its social media deal with, has two parts- Suresh’s Tuesday’s risk to show Vijayan’s ‘lie’ that he didn’t know her and the CM’s previous assertion admitting that he knew her as a Consulate workers.

The Marxist veteran had given the assertion as a reply to a query throughout a press meet on October 13, 2020 at a time when the gold smuggling case had cropped up as a political controversy for the primary time in the course of the time of his earlier authorities.

In the video clip, a scribe may very well be heard asking him whether or not Suresh had visited Cliff House, his official residence right here, a number of occasions and Vijayan was seen replying with none hesitation that she had come many occasions together with the Consulate General for varied official functions together with to ask him for the programmes of the UAE Consulate, positioned within the state capital.

“Whenever the Consulate General had made a visit at the Cliff House, she had accompanied him as his secretary. There is nothing unnatural for a Chief Minister to meet a Consulate General,” he had mentioned.

When the reporter once more requested whether or not he had launched senior IAS officer M Sivasaknar, who was then his principal secretary, as the purpose of contact for the issues associated to the Consulate, Vijayan mentioned he didn’t keep in mind clearly however there was nothing amusing about it even when he had mentioned in order he was his secretary.

The CMO got here up with the previous video, a day after Swapna Suresh instructed the media that when she was in jail, Vijayan had mentioned that he didn’t know this “controversial woman”.

Alleging that the Chief Minister had “lied”, Suresh mentioned she had met Vijayan and his relations a number of occasions on the Cliff House and mentioned a number of issues on which actions had been taken.

She additionally mentioned if Vijayan had forgotten all that, she would remind him via the media when it was crucial.

The sensational gold smuggling case that had rocked Kerala earlier than the Assembly polls final yr, has returned to hang-out the ruling LDF with prime accused within the case, Swapna Suresh lately levelling sure critical allegations in opposition to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his relations and a few high bureaucrats.

Suresh was launched from jail in November final yr, 16 months after her arrest within the sensational gold smuggling case.

A former worker of the UAE Consulate right here, she was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) together with one other accused Sandeep Nair from Bengaluru on July 11, 2020.

The NIA, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Customs carried out a separate probe into the racket that was busted with the seizure of gold price Rs 15 crore from the diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5, 2020.

Several folks, together with M Sivasankar, the previous Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and one other ex-employee of the UAE Consulate right here, Sarith P S, had been arrested in reference to the case.