Thiruvananthapuram: The probe into the forgery certificate issued by Swapna Suresh, the accused in the gold smuggling case, to enter a job in the space park has come to a halt. In July 2020, Dr. Baba Sahib Ambedkar Technological University in Maharashtra confirmed that the certificate was a forgery, but the Cantonment Police, which registered the case, has been ‘continuing’ the investigation for years. The search went nowhere because the higher ups who helped get the job would be trapped if they searched for the certificate. For years, the police have been saying that he will soon leave for Maharashtra to investigate.
Swapna Suresh had alleged that M Shivashankar, the former principal secretary to the chief minister, had assigned the IAS to the space park with full knowledge of his educational qualifications. 19,06,730 was allotted as a dream salary in the space park. Of this, the financial audit recommended that Rs 16,15,873, the GST-exempt amount, should be recovered from the selected PricewaterhouseCoopers and if not, officials including Shivshankar should be charged. The committee, chaired by the chief secretary, also recommended that the salaries be recovered from the officers. The PWC is of the view that the amount cannot be paid. The government has sought legal advice in this regard.
University officials had earlier said that Swapna Baba Sahib was not a student of Ambedkar Technological University and did not have a BCom course in the university or its affiliated colleges. The signature and seal on the certificate submitted to the dream government was forged. There were no security seals. The same certificate was submitted for the job, including at Air India Sats. The police had seized the certificate in the Air India SAT case. Cantonment police said they were planning to go to Maharashtra to investigate whether the certificate was forged.
English Summary: Swapna Suresh fake degree certificate case updates