Published 15:59 IST, August 3rd 2020
Kerala Gold smuggling case: Customs likely to interrogate accused M Sivasankar again
Kerala Customs department is likely to question former principal secretary M Sivasankar again in connection to the high-profile gold smuggling case
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The Kerala Customs department is likely to question Principal Secretary to Kerala CMO and IT secretary, M Sivasankar again in connection to the high-profile gold smuggling case. As per reports, Customs will quiz the IAS official to know whether he was aware of prime accused Swapna Suresh's financial transactions.
In her statement to Customs, Swapna had claimed that she received USD 1,85,000 apart from the amount for smuggling gold. The Customs officials found that Swapna earned crores of rupees within a short period apart from gold smuggling. It was also uncovered that USD 1,35,00 was transferred to Swapna’s bank account. She had also revealed that she received USD 50,000 as remuneration.
Reports say the accused has told Customs that she received the amount as a commission for implementing housing projects in Kerala through NGOs in association with the UAE government. She also added that a part of the commission from these projects was given to UAE consulate general and attaché.
Various questions regarding the appointment of Swapna Suresh and including her dubious fake education certificates were also asked according to the sources and whether someone recommended her for this job of operations manager in the government based KSITI Ltd.
The neighbours of Swapna Suresh have also seen Sivasankar visiting her residence and the CCTV footage which the wing has gathered also has proved that. Her house has allegedly been a place of planning for the whole smuggling operations since Sandeep Nair was also part of the meetings.
What is the Kerala gold smuggling case?
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.
15:59 IST, August 3rd 2020