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Vijayan’s daughter mastermind behind Sprinklr deal: Kerala gold smugglign case accused Swapna
“Initially, he had said he never knew me. Later, the CM retracted saying I came along with consulate officials to his house several times. Let the government release CCTV visuals of his official residence to show how many times I visited him between 2016 and 2020,” she said in Kochi. “What he said in the House was a bundle of lies.”
A day after the Kerala assembly discussed the sensational gold smuggling case for three-hours, its key accused Swapna Suresh on Wednesday said what chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in the House on Tuesday on the case was a “bundle of lies” and his daughter was the “mastermind” behind the Sprinklr deal.
“Initially, he had said he never knew me. Later, the CM retracted saying I came along with consulate officials to his house several times. Let the government release CCTV visuals of his official residence to show how many times I visited him between 2016 and 2020,” she said in Kochi. “What he said in the House was a bundle of lies.”
Swapna said she had several rounds of closed-door meetings with Vijayan’s family that were against the diplomatic norms but “she was forced to attend them purely for business needs of the family”.
On Tuesday, Vijayan made it clear that he did not forget to take his baggage during the Dubai trip.
She also alleged that Vijayan’s daughter Veena was the “mastermind” behind the controversial Sprinklr deal that allowed the US-based firm Sprinklr to collate health data of Kerala people under Covid quarantine without taking their individual consent.
Swapna said later CM’s principal secretary M Sivasankar was forced to own up the responsibility when the opposition made it a big issue in 2020. “Sivasankar was sad and told me he was made a scapegoat to shield the CM’s daughter who was mastermind behind the deal,” she said.
During the peak of Covid pandemic, the state IT department had inked an agreement with the US software firm Sprinklr in 2020 to process huge volume of data collected by grassroots health workers. Though no money was involved in the contract, the opposition had sniffed trouble alleging that it was a breach of privacy and data.
Later, it was also found that the state cabinet and law department were not consulted before signing the deal and the opposition moved the court alleging serious lapses. Later, the high court had restrained the US firm from breaching confidentiality of data and directed the state government to get the consent of individuals before sharing their details with the foreign company.
After the controversy surfaced then IT secretary M Shivasankar told media that he took the decision personally as the pandemic situation was getting out of control. Later, he appeared in a promotional video of the deal which was removed from Sprinklr’s website after it blown up into a big row.
Swapna said: “I personally know Veena played a key role in this and data was transferred to Sprinklr without any second thought. When it turned into a big issue Shivasankar was forced to own it up. We were in good terms then and he told me he was made a scapegoat to protect the CM’s family.”
She said she has enough evidence against former minister KT Jaleel, who filed a case against her, and she will release them as and when necessary.
The gold smuggling case surfaced on July 5, 2020 after the customs seized 30 kg gold hid in bathroom fittings in one of the consignments, camouflaged as diplomatic baggage, came in the name of the UAE consulate in the state capital. A former employee of the consulate PS Sarith who came to receive consignment was arrested the same day and after a week NIA arrested Swapna and her accomplice Sandeep Nair from Bengaluru.
