The Prisons and Correctional Services Department has expanded its internal inquiry into the politically stormy allegation that certain persons had threatened gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh, a COFEPOSA detainee, against cooperating with the Customs Department or implicating higher-ups in the State government in the racket.
Swapna had told the Economic Offences Court in Kochi recently that certain persons she could identify visually and possessed the mien of police or prison officials had pressured her at the Attakulangara Women’s Prison to stonewall the Customs inquiry.
She told the court that she feared for her life and the safety of her family. Various agencies had interviewed Swapna in prison, including the Crime Branch and Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB).
Director General, Prisons, Rishiraj Singh, said the inquiry would now cover Swapna’s sojourn in Ernakulam and Kannur prisons too. He would report the findings to the government. The probe has gained moment amidst reports that the Customs Department would seek a criminal investigation into Swapna’s averment in court.
Identity parade
A police investigation could entail an identity parade. The episode had ostensibly prompted the Enforcement Directorate to seek the permission of the court to question the accused in the gold smuggling case in the absence of jail officials in the future. Swapna’s complaint had put the Prisons Department in a spot.
It had prompted the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to accuse the Home Department headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of obstructing justice.
Both parties said Swapna’s statement assumed seriousness when viewed against the framework of the attempts by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to politically target Central agencies pursuing different aspects of the international racket.Earlier, the Customs had demanded a police inquiry into an audio clip, purportedly by Swapna, that the Customs had forced her to implicate Mr. Vijayan in the case.
Nevertheless, the Crime Branch inquiry had reportedly reached a dead end after investigators failed to recover the original device used to capture the contentious conversation.
