Swapna Suresh disclosures give Congress, BJP ammo to corner Pinarayi Vijayan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as top Congress leaders on Saturday demanded a re-investigation into the gold smuggling case in the light of the fresh disclosures made by prime accused Swapna Suresh, BJP said it stands vindicated.

On Friday, Swapna said M. Sivasankar, the then principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who spent 98 days in jail in the case and now out on bail, knew everything what happened in the gold smuggling case and also said she was made to speak twice, once while she was on the run from here after the first arrest in the case was made and later while she was in the custody of Customs, to give a clean chit to the Vijayan government, and it was stage-managed by Sivasankar.

Then Leader of Opposition and Congress veteran Ramesh Chennithala said he is now a relieved person as each and every thing he said then when the case first surfaced in 2020 has turned true.

"None would forget how contemptuously were my repeated statements in this case was dismissed by Vijayan and an array of Left leaders then. Following the disclosures, the stage is now set for a re-investigation into the case as Swapna herself has admitted everything was done at the behest of Sivasankar and who does not know that the office of Vijayan was closely involved in all this. Sivasankar who was recently reinstated should be suspended with immediate effect," said Chennithala.

The present Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the office of Vijayan is hub of all sorts of activities including corruption.

"To give Vijayan a clean chit, a conspiracy was hatched and with the disclosures it has now become crystal clear, the audio clips that came out then was done to give a clean chit to Vijayan. A probe should be ordered to find out this as the Police also played a role in it. The disclosures also reveal that commission was received in his pet project - Life Mission and none will now believe that Vijayan never knew anything," said Satheesan.

Both the Congress leaders pointed out that when the probe in this case went forward well, all of a sudden things came to a grinding halt and it happened because of a secret understanding between the CPI-M and the BJP and this was reflected in the April 2021 assembly polls.

"In 60 constituencies these two parties were hand in glove," said Chennithala.

State BJP president K. Surendran on Saturday told the media that it was he who had then revealed that a call had gone from the office of Vijayan to the Customs to release the diplomatic baggage and each and everything that he had then said including the safe passage of Swapna from here to Bangalore has now come true.

"The revelations of Swapna is very serious and Vijayan and the CPI-M should now speak up on all these," said Surendran. (IANS)

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