Kerala Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan summoned on March 12 in dollar smuggling case
Customs department has summoned Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan to appear before it on March 12 in connection with the dollar smuggling case.
Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan (ANI)
The Customs on Friday summoned Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan directing him to appear before its probe team in the dollar smuggling case. P Sreeramakrishnan has been asked to appear before the Customs on March 12.
The notice was issued after several attempts to get his statements in connection with the dollar smuggling case, including his travel abroad and other details, did not bear fruit. The Speaker has been summoned to the Kochi office of the ED.
“He is a person of interest for us” in connection with the smuggling case, an official was quoted as saying by PTI.
P Sreeramakrishnan has been summoned a day after the Customs claimed that the prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh has made “shocking revelations” against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Speaker, and some ministers.
In a statement filed in the Kerala High Court, the Customs said, “She has stated with clarity about the smuggling of foreign currency at the instance of the Hon’ble chief minister and the Hon’ble Speaker with the help of the Consulate.”
In January 2021, statements of Sreeramakrishnan’s assistant private secretary were recorded by Customs in connection with the probe into the alleged smuggling of USD 1,90,000 (equivalent to Rs 1.30 crore) by a former finance head of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram to Muscat in Oman.
Meanwhile, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has decided to march towards Customs office at 11 am on Saturday. The party members will march towards the regional customs office in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Calicut
