Kochi: Top bureaucrat M Sivasankar is set to remain in the custody of the Customs Department for one more week in order to facilitate adequate interrogation over his suspected role smuggling of gold in diplomatic parcels. Meanwhile, his bail application in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on money laundering charges will be heard on Wednesday.

Senior Supreme Court advocate Jaideep Gupta will appear for Sivasankar. Additional Solicitor General S V Raju will be appearing for the ED.

A special court had dismissed the bail plea of Sivasankar who was arrested on October 28.

Legal nod for recording confession

The Customs Department has received legal advice to record the confessional statements of Swapna Suresh and P S Sarith, the accused in the diplomatic parcel gold smuggling case, before a magistrate.

The department is preparing to record the statements of the accused under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code in view of the international significance of the case, even though the statements given by the accused to the investigating officer under Section 108 of the Customs Act are of equal value.

Why further custody is necessary

As reported earlier the Economic Offences Court has been apprised that the statements given by Swapna and Sarith indicate that there are ‘big sharks’ behind the smuggling of gold in diplomatic parcels and of dollars. The court pointed this out in its order remanding Sivasankar.

The Customs department had submitted to the court in a sealed envelope three crucial statements that Swapna and Sarith had made during their interrogation in custody from November 27 to 29. The court's observation came after examining these statements.

The names revealed by the accused are shocking to the conscience. Their release at this stage will adversely affect the progress of the investigation, the court had said.

Their exact role in the crime and strong evidence of their involvement need to be found. Their close contact with officials at the UAE Consulate paved the way for the smuggling without being caught for so long, it said.

The court acknowledged that much headway in evidence gathering was possible with the recording of Swapna's statements and the subsequent scientific examination of the digital records on her communication with Sivasankar.

The investigation team could uncover Sivasankar's involvement in aiding and promoting smuggling activities after recovering the phone messages that were deleted by the accused.

The court said that it was through this that the investigating officers came to know that Swapna had given her initial statements with the intention of deliberately excluding Sivasankar’s name from the crime. Only Swapna knows the real reason for doing this at the beginning of the investigation.

In such circumstances, the investigating officer has every right to make Sivasankar an accused in the case and to interrogate him in detail to get clarity on the allegations, the court observed.

After the interrogation, Sivasankar has to be produced in the court again at 11 am on December 7.