Kerala gold smuggling case: Man held for issuing fake degree certificate to accused Swapna
Darpan News Desk IANS, 23 Aug, 2022 12:59 PM
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 23 (IANS) The Kerala police on Tuesday arrested a Punjab resident for allegedly issuing a fake University degree certificate to Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case.
A team of police officials, attached to the Cantonment Station, arrested Sachin Das from Amritsar in Punjab. The police team, along with Das, is expected to arrive on Thursday.
Swapna was arrested for smuggling gold by a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team from Bengaluru in July 2020. Her arrest was followed by the arrest of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's principal secretary -- a top IAS official M. Sivasankar -- who is out on bail after spending several weeks in prison in connection with the case.
During investigation, it was found that Swapna is a school dropout but managed to get a degree certificate from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University. Based on the fake certificate and influence of high ranking officials like Sivasankar, she secured a plush job in the IT department which was headed by Vijayan.
Though a case was registered against her, no action was taken but after her allegations this June that Vijayan, his wife and daughter were engaged in the gold and cash smuggling, the police got into action and after a thorough probe, took Das into custody from Punjab.
In less than 24 hours after his security was curtailed, singer-turned-actor-politician Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead by gangsters close to his ancestral village in Mansa in broad daylight.
Moosewala, 29, was brutally murdered on May 29 by assailants who fired multiple rounds at him near his native village in Punjab's Mansa district. He was rushed to a hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.
The gangster had moved the high court after a NIA court of Patiala House Court junked his plea on Monday. In the plea, he sought a direction to the Delhi Police and the Tihar Jail authorities to ensure all necessary security arrangements for him.
The decision taken by the government will at least save Rs 35 crore annually, which was incurred on printing of stamp papers, besides facilitating the public to obtain stamp papers in a hassle-free manner.
He was found soaked in blood on the driving seat of the Mahindra Thar SUV. There were two more occupants in the car -- Sidhu's friends, Gurwinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh.
As per the information, Shubhdeep Singh, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, who left his house around 4.30 p.m. on Sunday along with two persons -- Gurwinder Singh (neighbour) and Gurpreet Singh (cousin), was shot dead by some unidentified persons.
