A day after excerpts of senior IAS officer M Sivasankar’s autobiography that detailed his trials and tribulations as an accused in the sensational gold smuggling case came out, main accused Swapna Suresh on Friday took strong exceptions to some of his comments and said he was “aware of everything”.
In the excerpts, carried by a Malayalam literary magazine “Pachhakuthira”, Sivasankar claimed that he was not aware of Swapna’s links with the smuggling racket and he feels she cheated him. In the book, Sivasankar also denied all charges against him and claimed that main target of central agencies was Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Talking to news channel Asianet, Swapna shot back saying he was aware of everything and he can’t wash off his hands like this. “If he said I cheated him, it was totally wrong. I was branded as a bad woman by many and I never thought he will also be a part of them.
He can’t be given a clean chit by branding me like this,” she said, adding that she did not read what he said in the book.
“So, many people exploited me. I am also a victim. But I suffered everything in last two years and did not utter a word to media so far. But if some people think they can get away by sacrificing me I will not allow this to happen,” Swapna said in the interview with the news channel.
When asked about Sivasankar’s claim that she trapped him by gifting an I-Phone on his birthday, she said she gifted so many other things and he took up only the phone since it turned an object of evidence in the case. “He was an important person in my life.
I never thought he will disown me like this. He was aware of everything,” Swapna said.
She also said she got some commission from the Life Mission project and they (she and Sivasankar) had a joint account to share this. She said she will say more when more details emerge after the release of the book. She also said at one point of time, Sivasankar was planning to take voluntary retirement and settle in the UAE.
Despite repeated attempts, Sivasankar could not be contacted for his response.
Meanwhile, a senior government official said the IAS officer did not take permission from the government to write the book as it was mandatory for civil servants to take permission of the government before giving an interview, writing a book or going public on an issue.
Three years back, DGP Jacob Thomas was suspended from service for more than eight months for writing a book without permission.
The gold smuggling case came to light on July 5, 2020 when the customs department seized 30 kg gold hidden in bathroom fittings in one of the consignments, camouflaged as diplomatic baggage, came in the name of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.
The CM’s principal secretary Sivasankar was implicated in the case by central agencies for his alleged association with prime accused Swapna.
The case also saw the central and state governments locking horns several times with the latter even constituting a judicial commission against the ED, a first of its sort, alleging the agency’s bid to implicate many senior leaders including the CM. The high court later scrapped the judicial commission.
