Thiruvananthapuram: Investigations centred around a bank locker jointly operated by accused Swapna Suresh and the Chatered Accountant of disgraced Kerala bureaucrat M Sivasankar have reportedly helped to unfold the latter's complicity in the activities of the diplomatic gold smuggling racket and his receipt of a Rs 1 crore kickback over a government project.
Investigators secured the much-needed crucial lead to tighten the noose around chief minister's former principal secretary as they realised the contradictions in his statements and that of his associate Swapna. For instance, Sivasankar, who had confided that he often gave money to Swapna because of her acute financial problems, interestingly directed his Chartered Accountant, Venugopal, to hire a bank locker for keeping her money and gold in safe custody. Moreover, the IAS officer decided so when she already had lockers in two other banks in Thiruvananthapuram.
Probe also revealed that Sivasankar directed her to keep him posted on a regular basis about the money kept in the locker and accounts of withdrawals.
"Did you open the new locker? Sivasankar asked me through a message. And when I said no I didn’t, he became very restless," Swapna said in her statement.
As reported earlier Swapna's deposition to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that the money kept in the locker was in fact the commission received by Sivasankar over the LIFE Mission project and the evidence to this effect will land the officer in serious trouble in the case. Earlier, Sivasankar had ducked questions related to this issue.
Swapana has claimed that Rs 1 crore found by the sleuths in her bank locker was indeed the commission paid to Sivasankar in return for awarding the building contract of the Life Mission Project.
Sivasankar's active interest in and control over financial transactions came to light when Swapna was questioned by the investigating officials for the second time. Following the revelations, the ED informed the court that Sivasankar was not only aware of Swapna's illegal money transactions but also associated with her in mobilizing and laundering black money.
The ED will file an additional charge sheet naming Sivasankar as the third accused in the case.
Both Sivasankar and Swapna are now in custody.
The Customs had unearthed the gold smuggling case in July. PS Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, was initially arrested over his alleged bid to help smuggle 30 kg gold in diplomatic baggage. Soon, the role of Swapna and her links to Sivasankar too came to light and both were arrested in the course of the probe.
Sivasankar, arrested by the agency on October 28, was earlier sent to seven-day custody of the ED. Last week, the court had extended by six more days the custody of Sivasankar to probe his communications with Swapna.
The ED, probing the money trail in the gold smuggling case, has alleged multiple offences against Sivasankar.
The National Investigation Agency, Customs and the ED are conducting separate investigations into the seizure of gold worth nearly Rs 15 crore from a diplomatic baggage of UAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport.
