Gold smuggling case: ED quizzes ex-Kerala CMO principal secretary M Sivasankar

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) grilled former principal secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister's Office (CMO), M Sivasankar, on Saturday in connection with the high-profile Kerala gold smuggling case. Sivasankar arrived at the ED office in Kochi at around 3:30 pm on Saturday for questioning in the matter.

The economic offences watchdog, which is probing a money laundering case related to the smuggling of gold into the state through diplomatic channels, had earlier interrogated Sivasankar at his residence in Thiruvananthapuram.

On Friday, three key accused in the high-profile gold smuggling case -— Swapna Suresh, Sarith PS, and Sandeep Nair — were sent to ED custody till August 17 by a Kochi court. While seeking the custody, the ED had submitted before the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court that Swapna Suresh has revealed her closeness with Sivasankar and that he was fully aware that her integrity is dubious.

"Swapna Suresh revealed her closeness with M Sivasankar, who is the former principal secretary of CMO. He was fully aware that her integrity is dubious. This is leading to a situation for further questioning of Sivasankar," the counsel appearing for the ED submitted. "It has also been revealed that when the state machinery was in UAE from October 17, 2018, to October 21, 2018, seeking assistance of the Indians there for flood relief, she had meetings with Sivasankar. It is revealed that she had considerable influence in the CMO," it added.

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Kerala gold smuggling racket

On July 5, Customs officials seized 30 kg of gold worth Rs.15 crore at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport from a diplomatic cargo addressed to a person in the UAE Consulate. Sarith Kumar, who worked at the UAE Consulate was arrested in this regard. Reportedly, he told the Customs about the role of Swapna Suresh, an ex-Consulate employee now working as the manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited.

The case took a political turn after photos with Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan surfaced. It has been alleged that Suresh has links with the CM and has been seen with him at parties when she was working at the UAE Consulate. Following the backlash over her appointment, she was sacked by the state government. On July 16, Vijayan announced that the suspension of his former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar pending the departmental inquiry. It was reportedly found that he had violated the All-India Services Conduct rules due to his connections with the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling accused.

(With ANI inputs)

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