Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the politically sensational UAE gold smuggling case, was released on bail from the Women’s Prison in Thiruvananthapuram on November 6.
Accompanied by her mother, Swapna headed past the phalanx of television news camera crew to a waiting car outside the prison gates.
She avoided journalists and went straight to her family house at Balaramapuram on the outskirts of the city. Swapna’s life took a turn for the worse in July 2020.
Kerala was a few months into the first COVID-19 lockdown when the Customs implicated Swapna in a case relating to the seizure of 30kg gold in “diplomatic air cargo” addressed to the Consulate General, UAE, Thiruvananthapuram.
The misuse of Customs inspection free consular channel to smuggle contraband into the country from abroad send alarm bells ringing in the security establishment. Law enforcers viewed it as a “one of a kind crime”, which immediately drew the attention of border enforcement agencies globally.
Soon, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stepped into the fray at the behest of the Central government.
The NIA arrested Swapna from Bangalore, setting in motion a sweeping multi-agency investigation that reached the doorstep of the Chief Minister’s Office.
Swapna’s proximity to higher-ups in government led to the arrest of CM’s principal secretary, M. Sivasankar, on the charge of abetment.
Fluent in Arabic, English and other languages, Swapna was the public face of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram for long. She had served as executive secretary to the Consulate General.
Swapna was the master of ceremonies at Iftar parties organised by the foreign mission. She also served as an interpreter and facilitator when a delegation led by the Sultan of Sharjah visited Kerala.
Soon, the Congress and the BJP weaponised allegedly cherry-picked parts of Swapna’s statement to the enforcement agencies to politically indict the government for “giving gold smugglers free rein in the Secretariat and CMO to facilitate their anti-national activities”.
The ED’s arrest of Sivasankar, questioning of Minority Affairs Minister K. T. Jaleel and summons to CM’s private secretary, C. M. Raveendran, provided sensational grist for the political opponents of the first Pinarayi Vijayan government.
However, the recriminatory campaign did not yield any political dividend for the Congress or the BJP in the 2021 Assembly elections.
Moreover, the court doubted whether UAPA charges against Swapna would pass legal muster. Soon, Customs detained her under COFEPOSA provisions.
Last week, the court granted bail to Swapna under strict conditions, ending her more than a year of judicial remand custody for now.
