Kerala gold smuggling case: ED to seek info on how audio clip recorded in jail

In the short voice clip, Swapna, who is in judicial custody, is purportedly heard saying she would be made an approver if she confessed that she went to UAE with M Sivasankar.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is writing to prison authorities in Kerala to seek details of how an audio clip in which a key accused in the gold smuggling case is purportedly heard suggesting that she is under pressure to implicate Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was recorded.

In the short voice clip, Swapna, who is in judicial custody, is purportedly heard saying she would be made an approver if she confessed that she went to UAE with M Sivasankar — former principal secretary to CM Pinarayi Vijayan and an accused in the case — for financial negotiations meant for the Chief Minister.

She is also heard purportedly saying that “they” did not allow her to read her statement, but scrolled through it and asked her to sign it.

ED sources on Friday said it was a ploy by the accused to give political colour to the case and wriggle out of trouble. “First, the clip nowhere mentioned the Enforcement Directorate. Two, how was this clip recorded in jail? We are writing to the chief of prisons in Kerala to give us details of circumstances in which this clip was recorded,” a senior ED official said.

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