Appointment of Swapna Suresh in RSS backed NGO gets mired in controversy

The former UAE consular staff Swapna Suresh’s attempt to start a new chapter in her life seems to be mired in controversy.

On Friday (February 18), Swapna Suresh, an accused in the sensational gold smuggling case, had joined the RSS backed NGO, HRDS (High Range Rural Development Society) at their Thodupuzha office, as the director of Corporate Social Responsibility. Her job role involved raising funds, especially from foreign contributors for charity work with the tribal population, with a monthly salary of ₹43,000.

However, after the news of her appointment broke out, BJP leader and former Union minister S Krishnakumar opposed the move and lashed out at the office-bearers of the organisation.

Krishnakumar told the media that he was the HRDS chairman and that the NGO’s current secretary Aji Krishnan had offered Suresh the post without consulting other members in the management. He also alleged that Krishnan had illegally removed him from the chairman’s post without seeking the board’s approval. The BJP leader said that he has already made a complaint to the Registrar of Societies against the illegal activities of Krishnan.

The NGO, which has a corporate office in Delhi, operates in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Assam and Jharkhand. After Swapna Suresh had bagged the job, she had confessed to the media that this new job was like a “rebirth” for her and had brought her back from the verge of suicide. However, uncertainty prevails over whether she would be able to join the NGO after the chairman has declared her appointment as illegal.

On the other hand, Biju Krishnan, the brother of Aji Krishnan, the HRDS project director has dismissed the dispute raised by Krishnakumar. According to him, Krishnakumar has no role in the NGO since he was removed from the chairman’s position six months back. He claimed that there is nothing illegal about Suresh’s appointment and that she would stay back in the new job.

Also read: Gold smuggling: Swapna Suresh’s claim about CMO kicks up row

Meanwhile, as far as the CPI (M) is concerned, this ruckus around her appointment has become a good opportunity to turn the gun on the BJP. The CPI (M) is alleging that Suresh was a pawn in the hands of the BJP, which is trying to malign the government by connecting the Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s office to the gold smuggling case.

It was K Surendran, the state BJP chief who first raised the allegation that a call was made from the CM’s office to the customs to get the gold released. But none of the investigating agencies could find any evidence about this accusation.

The allegations against M Sivasankar, the former principal secretary to the CM, who was a close friend of Suresh, had put the party and the government in the dock. There was also an allegation that Suresh’s degree certificate was forged and an FIR was filed. She was accused of getting a job as a consultant in the government-owned Space Park project after allegedly producing a fake BCom degree certificate.

The CPI(M) activists have now raised the question as to how a person who does not even have a degree and forged a certificate could have been employed in such a position. It only reveals her connection with BJP and RSS, alleged the CPI (M) party members.

The gold smuggling case relates to the seizure of 30 kg of gold on July 5, 2020 from a diplomatic baggage at the air cargo of the Trivandrum International Airport by the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi. The consignment was found camouflaged in diplomatic baggage from the UAE that is exempted from inspection, in accordance with the Vienna Convention.

Swapna Suresh was arrested by the NIA in connection with smuggling of gold through diplomatic channels. When she was arrested, she was working in the government-owned Space Park project. Booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Swapna was in jail for 16 months and obtained bail in November last year. Post her bail, Swapna had accused senior IAS officer M Sivasankar, of exploiting her and alleged he was aware of her activities