Special court extends Sivasankar's custody in gold smuggling case by six days

A special court here on Thursday extended by six days the Enforcement Directorate's custody of M Sivasankar, former principal secretary to the Chief Minister, arrested by it last week in connection with the alleged money laundering in the Kerala gold smuggling case.

The ED moved an application in the Special PMLA court here, seeking seven more days custody of Sivasankar to probe details of communication between him and Swapna Suresh, prime accused in the sensational gold smuggling case, as he was produced before it after the seven-day custody granted to the agency last week ended on Thursday.

Considering the ED plea, the court extended the custody of Sivasankar by six days.

The Enforcement Directorate, probing the money trail in the gold smuggling case, has alleged multiple offences against Sivasankar.

The National Investigation Agency, Customs and the ED are conducting separate investigations into the seizure of gold worth nearly Rs 15 crore from a "diplomatic baggage" of UAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5.

The ED has alleged that Sivasankar had intervened to clear the diplomatic baggage containing smuggled gold without examination by the Customs at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport.

(Image: PTI)