In a major update, after the conclusion of the Assembly session, the Customs department will be questioning Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan in connection with the dollar smuggling case.
The department decided to interrogate the Speaker after the conclusion of the budget session in the Assembly despite getting the green signal for questioning. Earlier, the Customs officials approached Assistant Solicitor General (ACG) P Vijayakumar seeking legal advice and procedures to follow before questioning the Speaker. The ACG told Customs that there were no legal obstacles and gave the department the green light to proceed with the questioning.
Reportedly, Sreeramakrishnan handed a bag to gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh and Sarith PS, asking them to deliver the bag to the United Arab Emirates Consulate General’s office. The Speaker denied any involvement in the case.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also likely to question the Speaker after receiving details of the dollar smuggling case currently investigated by the Customs department.
Earlier, the probe agency interrogated the Speaker’s assistant private secretary K Ayyappan regarding the Sreeramakrishnan’s travel details, visitors’ details, and information in the tour diary. The notice asking him to appear before the Customs was delivered at his residential address following Sreeramakrishna’s letter to the Customs stating that Speaker’s consent is necessary to question any of his personal staff.
The department issued multiple summons asking Ayyappan to appear in connection with the alleged smuggling of US $1,90,000 to Muscat. The smuggling news broke out during ongoing investigation into the Kerala gold smuggling case. The Speaker has come under severe criticism for inaugurating the shop of Sandeep Nair, one of the accused in the gold smuggling case.
