Meet Swapna Suresh – the main Mastermind of the 2020 Kerala Gold Smuggling Case

In 2020, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs department seized a classic gold smuggling case involving 30 kgs of 24-carat gold at the Thiruvanthapuram Airport. At that time, authorities meant to deliver the diplomatic bag carrying the booty to the UAE Consulate, but they seized it instead. The parties accused involved 4 out of which Swapna Suresh was the only female participant. We highlighted this case and the other key points about Swapna Suresh, her life. 

Who is Swapna Suresh?

Swapna Prabha Suresh is an IT professional who was born in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and she led a pretty ordinary lifestyle before the 2020 Kerala gold smuggling case. She was born on 4th June 1981, thus meaning that she is currently 41 years old. She worked in an IT firm and was even on the path to building something of her own before the case defamed her. In fact, before the case, her life was very much marked by a series of job changes and some controversial incidents. This, however, did include a steady rise in her social and professional circles, especially after she returned from the UAE.

Education and Early Life

Swapna was born and raised in the United Arab Emirates, where her father was successfully running his own business. This meant that the family had strong financial grounding right from the start, but interestingly, she did not complete her final board exams despite being an exceptionally bright student. This came as a shock because her early marriage interfered with her studies. However, she later revealed that she went back to complete her bachelor’s degree in commerce from Dr. Dadasaheb Ambedkar University in Maharashtra in 2011. This was met by a disagreement and a public dispute with her brother.

Personal Life and Marriage 

Swapna was married to Krishna Kumar, who was working as an NRI businessman in 1999. Interestingly, upon his business becoming a flop with sustained financial losses, Swapna divorced him and subsequently went on to work as a Public Relations Officer and airline ground staff in the United Arab Emirates to make ends meet and support herself. 

This was the moment when she was slowly gaining some recognition for her bravery, and several years later. In 2008, she returned to India and married Jayashankar in 2011 after having met him in 2010 while working at the TechnoPark in Thiruvanthapuram. She has two children – one son and one daughter, but their names are not provided.

Swapna Suresh Career Profile

According to some reported sources, it was known that before all this gold smuggling fiasco took place, Swapna’s life was quite normal and even mundane. She had started working at Abu Dhabi airport in the passenger services department, but then she ended up returning to India after remarrying in 2011 and was working peacefully in a low-paying job at a local travel agency located in Thiruvanthapuram for 2 years. Although her life seemed simple with some job switches, there was a layer added in between. She changed and switched in several companies, and here is a full highlight of her entire career:

the Trajectory

• She had no doubt managed to stay for two years in an Indian based travel company, but she soon left it and joined Air India SATs, which is a ground-handling agency located at the Thiruvanthapuram airport. She worked as an office assistant and was later promoted to HR head thanks to her skilled language and network prowess. However, during her tenure, she was accused of lying about being sexually harassed, which became a fiasco and led to her facing a criminal case. 
• After leaving the SAT’s job, Swapna joined the UAE Consulate with the position of an executive secretary to the Consulate General. Once again, her language skills were exemplary, and it helped her gain recognition, but she was dismissed soon after landing the job because of alleged improper professional conduct. This also happened because her previous sexual assault and forgery case had managed to resurfaced.
• After her role in the UAE Consulate, Swapna secured a position with the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited and was working as an operations manager with the support of a senior IAS officer named M. Sivasankar, who at the time was the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. Her appointment alone started a controversy as it raised questions about her qualifications and the interesting process through which she was hired. Later on, she was hired on the state’s Space Park project and worked there until July 2020, when her contract got terminated – this was when the gold smuggling case had already gotten public. 

The 2020 Gold Smuggling Case in Kerala 

The 2020 Kerala gold smuggling case, as we already might have heard, involved the illegal trafficking of 30 kgs of gold, which at the time was valued at approximately INR 15 crores. At the time, authorities labelled the package as diplomatic cargo and addressed it to the UAE Consulate. They had hidden the gold under labels for bathroom fittings, noodles, biscuits, and dates sent from a Sharjah-based firm in Dubai.

If you’re wondering why the mastermind included the context of diplomatic baggage, it’s because consignments under this label typically enjoy immunity from routine customs inspections. This made it the perfect crime, as it could bypass both security and tax checks. If you’re wondering why the mastermind included the context of diplomatic baggage, it’s because consignments under this label typically enjoy immunity from routine customs inspections. This made it the perfect crime, as it could bypass both security and tax checks.

Main Accused Parties

Apart from Swapna Suresh, who was the prime suspect, three other active parties were involved in the smuggling case, including:

• PS Sarith Kumar, who at the time was working as a Public Relations Officer at the UAE Consulate.
• Sandeep Nair, who was a businessman and who knew Swapna. He knew his way around and handled the logistics of the smuggling
• Faisal Fareed, a native UAE who was accused to have facilitating the gold consignments. Interestingly, he is the only one still on the lookout and is on Interpol’s Blue List.

Swapna Suresh Role 

Given her work history and academic qualifications, authorities considered Swapna the prime suspect and the mastermind behind the smuggling operation. At the time, she had worked at the UAE Consulate, so she had made some connections while working there. According to the investigators, Swapna had managed to use her position and social contacts within the consulate to get knowledge of the diplomatic procedures and subsequently, facilitate the entire smuggling.  

Swapna, along with co-accused Sarith, who worked with her at the consulate, and Sandeep Nair, was arrested shortly after the seizure on 5th July 2020. In addition to a large network of individuals involved in the smuggling, authorities also arrested some government officials, including M. Sivasankar, the principal secretary to Kerala’s Chief Minister at that time. 

Post-Case Developments and Reactions

It is no surprise that after the seizure and arrest, Swapna Suresh had to face harsh legal consequences. Authorities arrested her, and she spent 16 months behind bars, but on 2nd November 2021, they granted her bail with a bond of INR 25 lakhs. Currently, she is not arrested but still faces several legal proceedings. 

• Not surprisingly, she had been involved in several court cases, including defamation cases on sexual assault. In June 2024, she appeared in a lower court in Kannur and secured bail in a previous defamation case, but her reputation had already been tarnished.
• She had to face public allegations and several threats. She mentioned that she received a death threat from CPIM leaders, including from Govindam Master, who even offered her INR 30 crores to leave the country. However, Swapna made it very clear that she intends to fight till the end to expose ‘the real face’ of the Kerala Chief Minister and his associates.
• Her statements and accusations against CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his family on corruption have successfully kept the case politically significant and under strict and intense scrutiny. 
• In all of this, authorities like the Enforcement Directorate have summoned Swapna several times for questioning, but she has faced numerous threats and significant pressure to remain silent. However, she chose not to stay silent and mentioned that she will fight until the end to expose the ‘real face’ of Kerala’s CM.

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