Gold smuggling suspect Swapna Suresh dares CPI(M) leaders to file defamation against her

Swapna Suresh had alleged that former state Finance minister Thomas Isaac, former Temple Affairs minister Kadakampally Surendran and former Speaker of Assembly P Sreeramakrishnan had sought sexual favours from her.

Thiruvananthapuram |: Days after she raised allegations of sexual harassment against three prominent CPI(M) leaders in Kerala, Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the 2020 gold smuggling case, Tuesday dared the leaders to file a defamation suit against her.

On October 21, in interviews to Malayalam TV channels, Swapna had alleged that former state Finance minister Thomas Isaac, former Temple Affairs minister Kadakampally Surendran and former Speaker of Assembly P Sreeramakrishnan had sought sexual favours from her. Isaac and Surendran had served in the LDF government led by Pinarayi Vijayan from 2016 to 2021.

The leaders had initially remained silent with the party deciding to neglect the allegations. CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan had said, “Swapna has lost credibility. Hence, we have decided not to respond to the allegations raised by her.”

Subsequently, the leaders facing the allegations one after the other denied Swapna’s allegations. All the three had said BJP was behind the allegations and had claimed Swapna is “an agent or a tool in the hands of the BJP”. The leaders had also threatened to file a defamation suit against her.

Challenging the CPI(M) leaders, Swapna Tuesday told the media, “My humble request to these gentlemen is to file a defamation suit against me in the court. I will produce the evidence before the court.”

Earlier in the day, Sreeramakrishnan, in his Facebook post, said he never misbehaved with any woman. “Sangh Parivar’s brain is behind the allegations,” he wrote.

Minutes later, after posting a few photographs of Sreeramakrishnan on her Facebook page, Swapna said, “This is just a simple and humble reply and a reminder to Mr. P Sreeramakrishnan for his fb post and related arguments. In case this doesn’t remind him the rest then I request this gentleman to please file a defamation suit against me so that I may be able to produce the rest of the evidences before the Hon’ble Court.”