Kerala Gold Smuggling: NIA Informs Special Court That Swapna Suresh Had Close Links With CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s Office 

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today (Aug 6) informed the NIA Special Court in Kochi that Swapna Suresh, a prime accused in the case, had close links with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's office.

Assistant Solicitor General(ASG) Vijayakumar, who appeared in the NIA special court opposing Swapna's bail plea, informed the special court that Swapna had established links with chief minister's office (CMO) through suspended bureaucrat M Sivasankar, with whom she enjoyed a close proximity.

The NIA court will decide on the bail application on Monday.

NIA court was informed by the ASG that Sivasankar, a trusted bureaucrat of CM Pinarayi Vijayan, had gone out of the way to appoint Swapna in the Kerala government's Space Park and he used to advise her on many issues.

In some relief for the disgraced bureaucrat, the NIA's counsel has reportedly stated that Sivasankar did not interfere in the release of the diplomatic baggage (from where the gold was seized at the Thiruvananthapuram airport) despite repeated requests from Swapna.

The NIA informed the court that it has invoked the stringent provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against the accused in this case as the money funneled via the gold smuggling scandal is likely to have been used or financing terror activities in India.