Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan's office issued a statement, saying that he has nothing to do with the rumours over his alleged connections with any accused in the controversial gold smuggling case. Sreeramakrishnan’s clarification comes amidst BJP state president K Surendran’s allegation that the Speaker has close connections with the accused persons in the gold smuggling case and that his foreign trips were linked to them.
The statement said that the Speaker visited foreign countries either as a guest invited by some organisations or to visit his siblings who live abroad. The Speaker's office stated that all details regarding his foreign trips are available. It also stated that reports against the Speaker, which have been appearing in the media for the last two days, are not factual. His office said that Sreeramakrishnan neither travelled with any of the accused in the gold smuggling case nor met them in any foreign countries.
The Speaker said that all official visits to foreign countries have met all legal procedures. There were reports that the Speaker took money from the government only for official trips, and for trips as guests, the respective organisations sponsored him.
Incidentally, there were earlier reports that some VIP was involved in the gold smuggling case. On Tuesday, in a petition, Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the case, claimed that she received death threats to not reveal the VIP's name. Her allegation in the petition strengthened the doubts over a VIP's involvement in the case.
In her plea in a special court in Thiruvananthapuram, Swapna Suresh sought directions for the jail department to ensure she gets tight security. Though Swapna had claimed that four persons met her in jail and threatened her, the jail department said that only her relatives visited her.