Kochi: Swapna Suresh, the accused in the gold smuggling case, said that the Chief Minister advised him to meet Former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister M. Shivshankar. In 2017, a private meeting was held with the UAE Consulate General at the Chief Minister’s official residence. According to the Enforcement Directorate, Swapna was also present at the meeting as the Secretary-General of the Consulate General.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister said that it is enough to see Shivashankar for matters related to the government. Later, Shivashankar himself started calling for matters related to the UAE Consulate. He was also recalled for official purposes. Thus, the relationship has grown, says Swapna’s statement given to the ED. She has a locker number 1809 in State Bank of India and a locker number MSXC190 in Federal Bank. SBI locker has taken with Chartered Accountant Venugopal. It contains about 100-120 pavan of gold.
Shivshankar told investigators that he did not know about the gold and currency in it. Venugopal also clarified that he did not know about the money coming from this. But from the mobile WhatsApp messages sent by Venugopal, things are clear about money.
