Sivasankar opens up on smuggling scandal, Swapna links in soon-to-be released book

Thiruvananthapuram: M Sivasankar, IAS, who was recently reinstated by the Kerala government after a brief suspension for his alleged involvement in the Thiruvananthapuram diplomatic-baggage gold smuggling case, said that he was taken aback when he heard the news that Swapna Suresh had links with the racket. He also claimed she cheated him by giving a mobile phone that she received as bribe and there was a bid to implicate Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the scandal.

 

All these revelations are going to be part of his autobiography. Sivasankar is all set to unravel the ordeal he had faced during those dark days of his arrest through his new book titled "Ashwathamavu Verum Oru Aana".

 

In one of the chapters of the book, he writes about Swapna's cheating. He also claims that the Central agencies resorted to inhuman behaviour in the name of questioning.

 

He admits he came under the shadow of doubt after news broke out that his friend Swapna was found involved in the gold smuggling case.

 

"I was aghast when I came to know that the friend whom I knew for three years was involved in such a crime. I was not in a position to cope up with the situation or understand the gravity of the allegations. The same was the case of my family members and the friends who were firm on not ditching me in my hour of crisis. It was after a point of time that I could understand the real turns and twists in the case," he says.

 

'Refused Swapna's plea for help'

 

"It was on June 30, 2020 that smuggled gold reached Thiruvananthapuram airport in a diplomatic baggage. On July 1 and 2, Swapna called me and asked me whether I could do anything to release a baggage which was kept on hold by the Customs Department at Thiruvananthapuram Airport. She said a top official of the Consulate was angry at the baggage being not released. I expressed my inability to intervene, saying that the Customs had its own procedures in dealing such cases.

 

On July 4, Swapna and her husband came to my flat and sought my help again. I again declined to intervene in the case. After it was found that there was gold inside the baggage, Swapna and her family members went into hiding. Politicians then started a campaign that a higher official from the Chief Minister's Office called the Customs Department in order to release the baggage. It was their necessity to paint me as an accused to divert the attention," he said, while wondering who were all parties to hatching such a conspiracy.

'Didn't recommend Swapna for a job'

 

"Many people, who loved me, had said and written that Swapna's appointment was a mistake. Swapna was not a government servant appointed in the Space Park. She was just a staff on contract employed by the consultant which took the work on the first stage of the Space Park. One of the names given in the reference part of her bio-data was that of mine. But, I did not recommend her case to anyone.

 

Later, the news came out that Swapna gave me one among the five mobile phones she received from Unitac owner Santhosh Eapen. The mobile phone was given to me as a birthday gift. I never anticipated that she would give a mobile phone received as a bribe to me as a birthday gift. I didn't need such an iPhone. Just because I got it as a birthday gift, I used it. Good that I didn't give it to anyone else. Otherwise, that person would have been embroiled in the case. Swapna had told the inquiry officers that I didn't have any idea about where the mobile phone had come from."

 

Sivasankar also said in the autobiography that he had only introduced the Chartered Accountant when Swapna sought his help for investing her savings earned from the job in a bank.

 

It was Swapna and the Chartered Accountant who opened a locker account jointly. But still, the news came out that the locker in which the black money was found belonged to me, Sivasankar said.

 

'Pressure to link CM with the case'

 

The bureaucrat also says in his autobiography that what he understood after 90 hours of questioning was that there was huge pressure on the investigating officers to drag the name of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan into the case.

 

They thought that it would be easier to accomplish the task if they got my statement against the CM. They thought that my arrest would lead to such a scenario. But there were no contradictions in my statement. There were no contrasts between my statement and the evidence received from the mobile phone.

 

My continuous questioning by the ED and Customs was a clear proof of the kind of pressure exerted on the inquiry officers. At first, I discussed with the lawyer the possibility of moving for an anticipatory bail. A friend called me up on October 10 and said that there were chances for my arrest by the ED officials. That put me in great discomfort. Then, my hope that the truth would always stand by my side got shattered, Sivasankar added.