Thiruvananthapuram: M Sivasankar is the sixth official from the All-India Services to be suspended after the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government came to power in Kerala. Three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officials and three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers have been suspended so far.

Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to the CM, was suspended on Wednesday over his alleged association with gold smuggling case accused.

Sriram Venkitaraman and Anupam Mishra were other two IAS officials to be suspended.

Jacob Thomas, E J Jayaraj and K Radhakrishnan were the suspended IPS officers.

Sriram was suspended in August 2019 after he was involved in a drunk driving incident that caused the death of journalist K M Basheer. The suspension period was extended several times and he was finally reinstated in service in March so that his services could be used in the efforts to combat the COVID-19.

Kollam Sub-Collector Anupam Mishra was suspended in March this year as he left for Uttar Pradesh, violating the COVID-19 protocol.

Jacob Thomas, a DGP-rank officer, was suspended in 2017 for his adverse remarks against the government as written in his book. His suspension period was also extended several times and he was taken back in service in 2019.

Former Crime Branch IG E J Jayaraj was suspended in 2017 after he was found drunk in his official car.

K Radhakrishnan was accused of colluding with the accused in the ganja case while he was the Excise Vigilance SP in Idukki and suspended. He was suspended while on probation after being conferred with the IPS.

Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Personnel has directed the Chief Secretary to take action against Thalassery Sub-Collector Asif K Yusuf, who submitted a fake income certificate to avail reservation benefits.

All-India Services include the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Forest Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS).