The Kerala High Court adjourned to July 26 the hearing on a petition filed by Swapna Suresh, an accused in the diplomatic gold smuggling case, seeking to quash the conspiracy cases registered by the Crime Branch (CB) against her in Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad.
The allegation against Swapna was that she had hatched a conspiracy with former MLA P.C. George and intentionally and maliciously made false and defamatory statements against K.T. Jaleel, MLA, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family to harm their reputation. It had also provoked the general public to cause riots in the State, the charges said.
The CB submitted in a statement that evidence and material collected by the investigation agency had clearly revealed the commission of offences alleged against the accused. The entire State had witnessed politically motivated wanton rioting and violence following her statement. The violence was the outcome of an orchestrated and well thought-out plan.
A total of 745 cases were registered in connection with the agitation involving rioting, damaging of public property, arson and so on. The cyberspace was replete with forged documents and caricatures, maligning the reputation of the Chief Minister and Mr. Jaleel, the statement said.