The plan of the Customs to interrogate Vinodini Balakrishnan, the wife of CPI(M) leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, in connection with the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case has reached a dead end with the agency failing to serve her the summons for personal appearance.
There were reports that the agency had asked Ms. Balakrishnan to appear before it on Tuesday. However, the attempts of the investigation agency to serve her the summons to appear for interrogation has not succeeded till now.
The first summons, which was send through Speed Post to the address of the house owned by Bineesh Kodiyeri, her son, at Maruthankuzhi, Thiruvananthapruam, was returned by the Postal Department with a note that the door was locked.
The second attempt of the agency last week to deliver the second summons to the address of the apartment complex in Thiruvananthapruam where Mr. Balakrishnan is residing ended in wilderness as there has not been any return communication from the Postal Department on the post.
The agency is yet to know whether the summons has been served. There has not been any communication on the status of the delivery of the summons, Customs sources said. It is to be found out whether she has left for her home town in northern Kerala. Efforts are on to trace her location to serve the summons, sources said.
The agency was planning to question Ms. Balakrishnan in connection with the alleged possession of an iPhone, which Swapna Suresh, the accused in the gold smuggling case, had reportedly collected from Santhosh Eapen, the managing director of Unitac.
The company had run into trouble with the Customs and Enforcement Directorate probing its deals in the gold smuggling case and the alleged bribery charges for procuring the contract for constructing houses under the LIFE Mission housing scheme at Wadakkanchery.
Incidentally, sources close to Ms. Balakrishnan had denied her owning or using the iPhone provided by any of the accused in the case.
