Kochi: It is highly unlikely Kerala chief minister’s former principal secretary M Sivasankar was not aware of the shady operations of the gold smuggling racket. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had arrested him, has strong grounds to incriminate him. While opposing his anticipatory bail plea, the central agency had informed the Kerala High Court that the 57-year IAS officer was in control of the money laundering transactions of Swapna Suresh, one of the main accused in the gold smuggling racket busted by the Indian Customs in July.
The ED stated that Sivasankar was involved in 21 instances of gold smuggling carried out by Swapana. The arrest report mentions that Sivasankar has admitted to directly calling up a customs official in April 2019 to get a diplomatic parcel released.
The ED has arraigned Sivasankar as the fifth accused in the case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court granted Sivasankar's custody to ED till November 5 for further custodial interrogation, considering the plea petition of ED assistant director P Radhakrishnan.
The questioning will be allowed between 9 am and 6 pm. A one-hour break will be given to the officer if he is questioned continuously for three hours. The court gave these directions considering Sivasankar's health condition.
Centre keeps tab on case
New Delhi: The gold smuggling case is being monitored directly by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters and the Union Home Ministry considering its multiple angles that have political, diplomatic and security ramifications.
C Radhakrishna Pillai, The head of the investigation team in Kochi, went to Delhi to apprise IG Santosh Rastogi of the progress in the investigations. The NIA believes that a detailed probe is required into the illegal transactions centering on the Kerala chief minister’s office.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is also examining the details of the investigation. However, NIA sources pointed out that there was no evidence yet regarding the terror link in the case.