The customs officer who caught the diplomatic gold smuggling has terminated his service, although the information coming out is that he is leaving his job due to health reasons, social media is asking whether he is leaving his service now because of the threat of gold smuggling in the past or some other reason. Customs Assistant Commissioner H. Ramamurthy’s seven years of service are now being announced as terminated.
They tried to smuggle gold worth fifteen crores through Thiruvananthapuram airport through diplomatic baggage. Its capture caused a huge uproar. Many threats were made to Ramamurthy in this incident. The threats were reportedly made by people claiming to be consulate officials. Despite this, the proceedings went ahead.
During the first Pinarayi government, Sivashankar, who was the principal secretary to the Chief Minister, was arrested in the gold smuggling controversy. Similarly, in August 2000, Ramamurthy led the seizure of Chinese silk worth Rs 1.56 crore when a young woman named Volga, a native of Uzbekistan, tried to smuggle into India through the Delhi airport. On that day, Volga Chinese silk was brought to India in 27 bags.
Although the number of bags was officially recorded, this officer had a doubt as to why a woman was bringing 27 bags. That time, Assistant Commissioner of Customs H. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Union Ministry of External Affairs had given permission to open the baggage after Ramamurthy informed the authorities about the baggage weighing more than what was stated in the invoice. . The customs department had received a tip-off from Dubai that the gold would be smuggled through diplomatic baggage.
Sarithkumar, the former PRO of the consulate, was arrested. During interrogation, Saritha revealed that she along with Swapna Suresh, a state government employee in the Information Technology (IT) department, used the same method three times before for smuggling operations during the lockdown. A native of Thiruvananthapuram, 36-year-old Suresh worked as an executive secretary at the consulate from 2016 to August 2019. Saritkumar and Swapna were dismissed from their jobs. ‘Inappropriateness’ was cited as a reason.
The customs department found that Saritkumar had moved ten times more diplomatic baggage than allowed in the last one year. Swapna has been missing from her flat in Thiruvananthapuram since the morning of July 4th. A lookout notice was issued for Suresh and searches were conducted at several places, including the Pothankot Shantigiri Ashram, which she frequented. According to a senior customs official, this is the first instance of using diplomatic channels to smuggle gold into India.
Born and brought up in Abu Dhabi, Swapna Suresh came to Kerala with her daughter in 2005 after her marriage to a Gulf businessman failed. She started working in a famous travel agency in the city and later worked in Air India Sats Airport Services Limited. While working at AI SATS, Swapna filed false complaints (including sexual harassment) against an officer. An inquiry was ordered against her. After that collapse, she started working as an executive secretary at the consulate.
Meanwhile, bureaucrat Sivashankaran, one of his key aides, was removed from the post of secretary to the chief minister on July 7 after discussions with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, DGP Loknath Behra and Chief Secretary Biswas Mehta. Hours after this development, he too was removed. From the position of Principal Secretary to the IT Department. Sivasankaran was instrumental in getting Suresh a job in the state IT department.
A 1995 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, he was the Chief Minister’s Secretary since 2016. In April this year, Sivasankaran gained attention for signing a deal with US tech firm Sprinkler to manage health data. Covid patients in the state. He went ahead with the deal without getting due approval from the legal and finance departments. The ensuing political uproar forced the Chief Minister to intervene and terminate the agreement. Sivasankaran had escaped unhurt that day. This time, a one-year leave has been applied for after Pinarayi was removed from his post. The opposition is furious with all sorts of allegations flying the chief minister’s way.
Kerala will go to assembly polls in 2021 and the opposition is wasting no time in turning up the heat by digging out old pictures of Pinarayi standing next to Suresh, albeit pictures from the state’s IT program. the employee
The gold smuggling case is also being compared to the solar scam that rocked the previous Congress government led by Oommen Chandy in 2016. Although no evidence has been found linking Chief Minister Pinarayi to the corruption, the then prime accused Sarita Nair is being compared to Swapna Suresh. The LDF government has also welcomed the CBI probe into the case, saying it has nothing to hide. The UAE consulate was also launching its own investigation, saying in a series of tweets that the “criminals will not be spared” for embarrassing the Arab Confederation of States.
