Sad at Sivasankar's arrest, but happy as probe on right track: Swapna Suresh

Hours after the Enforcement Directorate arrested M Sivasankar, Swapna Suresh -- the prime accused in both gold smuggling and Life Mission cases -- said that she was sad at his arrest, but also happy as the probe is finally on the right track.

Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling and Life Mission cases in which the Enforcement Directorate arrested the former principal secretary of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan- M.Sivasankar, on Wednesday said she is sad that the arrest has taken place.

"Do not know whether I will be arrested as I am also a part of the case, but the other big fish, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his wife, daughter and his son are all beneficiaries. For that, the ED will have to question Vijayan's private secretary C.M.Ravindran," said Swapna to the media in Bengaluru where she is presently based.

"Vijayan and his family is the brain behind all this and their interest is only to amass wealth by working against the interest of the state. They have involvement in every single deal. I did what I was asked by Sivasankar as we shared a very cordial relation then," said Swapna.

"I do not mind going back to jail as am sure that all the big fish will also join me. Will do every possible thing to see that it happens," added Swapna.

Late on Tuesday night, the central agency arrested Sivasankar in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to alleged fund irregularities in Kerala flood relief.

He superannuated from service on January 31.

The arrest was made after a two-day intense questioning that began on Monday. The arrest is related to the ongoing probe in Vijayan's pet project, 'Life Mission' in which a huge sum of over Rs four crore was allegedly paid as commission to get the contract, which was admitted by the builder, Santhosh Eapen to the CBI after he was arrested.

During the first Vijayan government 2016-21, Sivasankar was the final word in all matters where the CM was closely involved, and this case involves the alleged violation of foreign contribution regulations in the Kerala government's flagship project.

The project intended to provide homes to the poor who lost their houses in the devastating floods of 2018.

The project at Wadakkanchery in Thrissur district then came under a cloud after the then sitting Congress MLA Anil Akkara approached the CBI alleging massive corruption.

Akkara, on Wednesday, expressed happiness over the arrest of Sivasankar and said the arrests should not stop here as this deal was done with the knowledge at the highest level.

Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan questioned Vijayan's silence and asked him to speak out on how his onetime closest aide is now behind bars.

"If Vijayan doesn't fear anything, then why is he hell bent on preventing a CBI probe into the Life Mission scam. In the past, when this case was being probed, all of a sudden everything came to a standstill. Vijayan knows everything so let him speak up as the people wish to know," said Satheesan.

Union Minister of State for External Affair V.Muraleedharan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will bring out whosoever the person is engaged in corruption.

"With the arrest, one thing is clear, either Vijayan knew everything and was a beneficiary or he being a fool did not understand what was happening in his office. Now let us wait for the probe," said Muraleedharan.

Meanwhile, brushing aside Sivasankar's arrest, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran said the arrest means nothing as Sivasankar is not part of the ruling Left Democratic Front.

"A case is there against him and an arrest has been effected. This is all part of a probe and that has got nothing to do with us and will not affect us," said Rajendran.

Incidentally, this case surfaced after the gold smuggling case came to light in June 2020 in which Sivasankar was jailed.

He was summoned after the ED recently completed a few rounds of questioning of Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case and interrogated her along with two other accused who are also accused in the gold smuggling case.

Both Swapna Suresh and Sarith, who were employed in the UAE Consulate, were later found to have a role in Life Mission funds misappropriation too.

Trouble began for Sivasankar when the probe located a locker in which cash to the tune of Rs one crore was found in a locker belonging to Swapna and a chartered accountant who was close to Sivasankar.

Swapna initially stated that this was the commission that she got, but later changed her position and said this money belonged to Sivasankar.

The ED in the three days of questioning Sivasankar failed to get any positive response to this statement, but the ED recorded his arrest based on evidence that they have collected.

Previously, the state government then had approached the Kerala High Court to stop the probe, but it dismissed the pleas and said that an ongoing CBI probe should continue in the case involving senior government officers and contractors.

The CBI had then taken a position that private company Unitac, carrying out the construction on behalf of a Kerala government body, did not get the contract through a tender.

The project entailed construction of 97 apartments and a health centre, and it was alleged that both the gold smuggling case accused held talks with Unitac and fixed a commission of 30 per cent of the project cost -- 20 per cent to a UAE official and 10 per cent to Swapna Suresh and other co-accused for approvals and other file movements.

The CBI claimed that Sivasankar had met Unitac owner Santhosh Eapen at his chamber along with Swapna Suresh and assured full support.

The then Life Mission Chief Executive Officer U.V. Jose was also allegedly present at this meeting.