National News

Kerala gold smuggling case - 21 Oct, 2020

Already on the mat, Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan appeared to have got some relief after the statement of Swapna Suresh

Sentinel Digital Desk

Already on the mat, Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan appeared to have got some relief after the statement of Swapna Suresh, prime accused in the gold smuggling case, to the Enforcement Directorate, surfaced in the media, wherein she seems to have given a clean chit to Vijayan. As per reports, Swapna has said that she had only had official interactions with the Chief Minister and there was no personal relation. She has testified to the ED that there was only one occasion that she met Vijayan without being accompanied by the UAE Consulate officials and that was done to brief his wife about the visit of the Sharjah ruler and on the customs and practices to be undertaken during the visit. She also testified that when her father passed away, Vijayan called her on the phone of his secretary M.Sivasankar. Vijayan has been in the dock ever since the gold smuggling case surfaced with the arrest of P.S. Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here on July 5 by the Customs, after baggage to the UAE Consulate containing gold was found. (IANS)