Kochi: The confidential documents handed over to the Kerala High Court contain crucial evidence against suspended bureaucrat M Sivasankar in connection with the gold smuggling case, the Enforcement Directorate has said.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who appeared for the ED, told the court that the documents contain information about Sivasankar’s WhatsApp messages.
It is clear from the messages that he shared a very close relationship with Swapna Suresh, a main accused in the Trivandrum Airport gold smuggling case. Considering Sivasankar’s status and the influence he wields, there is a concern that he could try to destroy the evidence.
The commission received by Swapna Suresh and her aides in the Life Mission project and for other contracts was huge. Economic offences were an act against society, senior advocate K Ramkumar said while appearing for the Customs Department.
Accusations false: Sivasankar
The investigating agencies were now saying things that were not mentioned in the explanation given to the court, Sivasankar’s lawyer P Vijayabhanu argued.
Investigative agencies are fabricating stories that are unbelievable, just like the fairy tale about ‘the prince who saw a frog walking in the garden in the morning’.
The ED, which said Sivasankar had sent WhatsApp messages to his chartered accountant to handle Swapna’s finances, is twisting facts to mislead everyone, the lawyer argued.
Sivasankar is not a computer to remember what happened in 2018. The WhatsApp messages talk about Rs 30 lakh that was deposited in the bank locker in 2018. That amount was withdrawn within three or four months and then Swapna took the locker key from the chartered accountant.
When the court asked if the locker still existed, the lawyer said it was there but the chartered accountant did not know what happened with it after Swapna took the key.