Gold smuggling accused claims mediator offered her Rs 30 crore to leave India

In a Facebook Live session, Suresh alleged that the middleman wanted her to stop speaking against Vijayan and told her that she should move out of the country — either to the UK or Malaysia.

Swapna Suresh, the key accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case. (File)

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Gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh on Thursday alleged that a middleman had offered her Rs 30 crore to withdraw allegations against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family, and that she was “threatened that my life would be in danger if I did not yield”.

In a Facebook Live session, Suresh alleged that the middleman wanted her to stop speaking against Vijayan and told her that she should move out of the country — either to the UK or Malaysia.

The CPI(M) has not reacted to the allegations.

Suresh alleged that the purported middleman — a person from Kannur named Vijay Pillai — called her for a meeting in Bengaluru three days ago. “He offered me Rs 30 crore to withdraw the allegations against the CM and his family. He promised me help to leave Kerala…” she alleged.

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When she met Pillai at the lobby of a hotel in Bengaluru, he allegedly asked her to “immediately” leave Kerala, Suresh alleged. “He wanted me to destroy all evidence against Vijayan and offered help to destroy evidence stored in the cloud, if any. He quoted CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan, saying that if I did not leave Kerala, there would not be scope for any settlement of the issue…that Govindan wanted him to inform me that my life would be in danger.”

Opposition leader V D Satheesan said Vijayan and Govindan should respond to allegations made by Suresh. “If the allegations are baseless, they should make clear whether they will go for legal remedies,” the Congress leader said.

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