Kochi: The Union Home Ministry has directed the central investigating agencies to reach a definite conclusion in 10 days on the involvement of chief minister’s former principal secretary M Sivasankar in the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case.
Sivasankar has been suspended for his association with the one of the main accused Swapna Suresh.
Although he is not named as an accused in the case, he was questioned for 25 hours by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and for nine hours by the Customs department.
An IAS officer who held key positions in the state government should not be kept under a shadow of suspicion for a long time, the Union Home Ministry has told the NIA and the Customs Department.
Following the home ministry directive, the NIA will expedite the examination of CCTV footage obtained from the secretariat.
The cyber forensic examination of the six mobile phones, two laptops, hard disks and digital recorders belonging to Swapna, the second accused in the case who is considered to be the crucial link connecting Sivashankar with the smuggling racket, will also be speeded up.
Throughout the marathon interrogation by the NIA and Customs officials, Sivasankar maintained that he knew Swapna as only the wife of a relative. He said he had failed to figure out Swapna’s other relationships, including her connection to the smuggling operations.
