Kannur: Swapna Suresh, prime accused in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case in Kerala, appeared before the police in a defamation case lodged by CPM Thaliparamba area secretary K Santhosh. 

Swapna, who appeared at the Kannur crime branch office around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, was interrogated for over 2.5 hours. Following this, she was released at around 12:30 p.m. under the condition to appear again if required.

Swapna told police that she does not know Govindan personally and that Vijesh Pillai, who threatened her, offered her Rs 30 crore and allegedly asked her to leave the state. However, the investigating team says that Swapna couldn’t provide any evidence to substantiate her claims. 

The case against Swapna was lodged based on the complaint filed by CPM Taliparamba area secretary K Santosh, claiming that she attempted to defame the party through social media. Swapna Suresh posted on social media that she received death threats demanding her to withdraw the case against the Chief Minister and his family. She also claimed she was offered Rs 30 crore to withdraw the complaint. Taliparamba police have registered a case on the charges of instigating violence, conspiracy, forgery and so on. 

Earlier, the police served several summons asking her to appear for questioning. However, she failed to appear before the investigating team. 

Swapna later told the media that the police were trying to silence her and that they were engaging in theatrics by summoning her all the way from Bengaluru. She alleged that the police asked her nonsensical questions.