Kerala Gold Scam: ED levels concealment charge on Sivasankar, HC reserves order on bail

Kerala High Court on Friday heard the bail plea of former principal secretary of Kerala CMO M Shivasankar in connection with the Kerala Gold Smuggling racket. During the hearing, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that Sivasankar's activities come squarely within the definition of concealment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The ED said that Swapna Suresh, who is the prime accused in the case, did not mention Sivasankar's name initially because he was influential. The Kerala High Court has reserved its order on Shivasankar's bail plea.

Making things difficult for CM Vijayan, the Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed CM's additional private secretary Raveendran's plea challenging the multiple summons issued to him by the ED. Raveendran had approached the court after he was summoned in the PMLA case linked to the Kerala Gold smuggling scam. In his petition, Raveendran had stated that he had not fully recovered from his illness and he was worried that the ED might apprehend him for "long hours." 

What is Kerala Gold Smuggling scam?

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 who was appointed by Sivasankar as a manager in KSITIL. Following the backlash over her appointment, she was sacked by the state government.

The case is currently being probed by the ED, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Customs Department. The NIA has made severe allegations against the people named in the FIR of the Kerala Gold Scam that are Sarith Kumar, Swapna Suresh, Fazil Fareed, Sandeep Nair, and others. The NIA has alleged that the smuggled gold was not used for jewellery purposes but for funding terror activities.

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Opposition demands CM's resignation

Swapna Suresh's appointment by Principal Secretary to CM led the opposition to raise suspicion over the Kerala CMO being complicit to the scam. After the heat on the CMO, Principal Secretary Sivasankar was suspended from his post pending the departmental inquiry. Yet his sacking has not stopped the opposition from raising allegations of CM Pinarayi Vijayan's complicity to the Gold Smuggling racket. Moreover, pictures of CM with Swapna Suresh emerged which further led to the questioning of CM's complicity in the racket.

(With ANI inputs)

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