On Tuesday, Kerala CM Vijayan’s Principal Secretary was removed in light of allegations that he had links to Swapna Suresh, an individual in a gold smuggling racket.
DD News Malayalam tweeted: “M Sivasankar, IAS removed as Principal Secretary to Chief Minister of Kerala. This is in light of allegations that M Sivasankar has links with Swapna Suresh who was allegedly part of Gold Smuggling racket using diplomatic channel. “
What’s the case?
Custom officers at Thiruvananthapuram international airport seized 30 kg gold worth Rs 15 crore from a consignment meant for the Consulate of the United Arab Emirates in the city. The main accused, a woman identified as Swapna Suresh, is currently absconding after calls for her arrest.
How was it being smuggled?
While diplomatic bags aren’t checked, this time there was prior information which led to the seizure.
Who is Swapna Suresh?
is because the IT Department where Swapna was working was directly under the purview of the Kerala Chief Minister’s Office.
Swapna Suresh is also former employee of the UAE Consulate. If you Google search her name, you can find her LinkedIn profile. However, on clicking it, it appears as if she has put all necessary filters to ensure a third-party cannot see her profile details. However, her Facebook profile, which is open, had her last post, dated in April. This hasn’t stopped people flooding her timeline to troll her about the scandal in the past few hours.
Opposition reaction
Leader of Opposition in Kerala, Ramesh Chinnithala, on Tuesday said that it was ‘startling to know that a former lady employee of the UAE consulate had managed to get a job in Space Park, an institution under the Information Technology department, despite having a dubious record that involves a detailed investigation.’