Gold Smuggling Case: Probe team quizzes Vijesh Pillai about Swapna Suresh's claims

Kochi: Vijesh Pillai, a Kannur native, was interrogated by a special team on Friday based about charges levelled by gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh against Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary MV Govindan. He was released after interrogation. 

After interrogation, Vijesh Pillai told Asianet News that he did not know MV Govindan or his son personally and claimed that the allegation was fabricated by Swapna Suresh. 

Pillai alleged that Swapna Suresh may have hatched a conspiracy. The threat of her life and a settlement of Rs 30 crore was made by Swapna herself. He was interrogated by a special team probing the complaint of conspiracy by Swapna Suresh. The investigation team will come to Bengaluru and interrogate Swapna Suresh regarding the complaint. 

Swapna Suresh had filed a complaint against Vijesh Pillai alleging that she was offered Rs 30 crore as a final settlement and that she had been threatened with her life if she did not heed. Following her complaint, police booked Pillai for criminal intimidation.

A former employee of the UAE consulate in Kerala, Swapna Suresh claimed that Pillai had invited her to meet him on March 4 at a luxury hotel on Whitefield Main Road in Bengaluru. There, he allegedly claimed that he had been sent by CPI-M Secretary Govindan and offered her Rs 30 crore as a final settlement for not making any statements critical of the Kerala chief minister and his family.

Meanwhile, Taliparamba police registered a case based on a complaint filed by CPM area secretary K Santhosh. He alleged that the accused is conspiring against CPM leaders while the Opposition parties are trying to incite violence in the state. The complaint says that the statements made by Swapna on different occasions were part of a larger conspiracy and were being widely used by the Opposition parties as a political weapon.