Kerala Assembly Speaker to be grilled by Customs in hawala transaction

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM (Jan 01 2021, HS): P Sreeramakrishnan , the Marxist Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, is all set to be grilled by the Customs officials in connection with hawala transaction case.

According to sources in the Customs Department, Sreeramakrishnan, who has been claiming that he was being hounded and victimized by his political rivals, would soon be served summons to appear before the agency for questioning. This may happen anytime before the budget session of the Kerala assembly convenes  on January 8.

Swapna Suresh, the kingpin of the gold smuggling scam and who is also being portrayed as the honey trap by international smuggling syndicates  to facilitate  their India operation, has told the investigating agencies that Sreeramakrishnan had helped her in smuggling out dollars from India to West Asian countries. The videos featuring Swapna and Sreeramakrishnan had already demolished the  claims of innocence by the Speaker who even threatened BJP Kerala chief K Surendran for spreading falsehoods against him.

A N Radhakrishnan, a senior BJP leader in Kerala to had come out with charges stating that the Speaker had close questionable liaison with the   controversial lady, who has been imprisoned in a Thiruvananthapuram prison. Swapna was also in relationship with M Sivsankar, the suspended principal secretary of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Details of the kind of work done by Swapna and her accomplice Sarat  for Sreeramakrishnan, a known political Casanova, were disclosed by the duo to Customs and in their confidential statement to the Magistrate who is hearing the case.

According to Swapna, the Speaker summoned her and Sarat to his personal chambers and handed over a bag containing dollar notes with the instruction that the same be taken to the Consulate General of the UAE at the capital city.

This is the first time in Kerala’s history the Speaker of  the Legislative Assembly is being questioned by sleuths of an investigating agency. The façade of boldness put by the Speaker, since the breaking of his escapades were published by the local media, has collapsed over the last two months. The documentary and digital evidence seized by the investigating agency has substantiated the statements made by Swapna about her dealings with Sreeramakrishnan, scion of the Purayath family, leading feudal landlords of Perinthalmanna.