Dollar smuggling case: Kerala Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan won't appear before Customs today

Kerala Legislative Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan informed the Customs department through an e-mail about his absence and cited the reason that he is ill.

Kochi: Kerala Legislative Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan, who has been summoned by Customs in the Dollar smuggling case, will not appear before Customs officials today.

Sreeramakrishnan informed the Customs department through an e-mail about his absence and cited the reason that he is ill.

The Customs had served him a notice, asking to appear before its Kochi office before 11 am today in the Dollar Smuggling Case.

The Speaker was summoned after an affidavit submitted before the Kerala High Court earlier in which Customs Commissioner (Preventive) Sumit Kumar claimed that gold smuggling scam accused Swapna Suresh had disclosed that the smuggling of foreign currency was done at the instance of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Assembly Speaker with the help of the UAE Consulate.

The case came to light during the investigation of the Kerala gold smuggling case, which is currently being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the Customs department.

The matter, which pertains to the smuggling of gold in the state through diplomatic channels, had come to light after 30 kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crore smuggled in a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by the Customs in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5, 2020.

(ANI)