Kerala gold smuggling case: Questioning of suspended bureaucrat Sivasankar by NIA underway

In a new development pertaining to the gold smuggling case on Thursday, NIA began questuoning suspended bureaucrat M Sivasankar at the Kerala Police Club in Thiruvananthapuram. This is the first occasion on which the NIA is questioning him. In the previous week, he was grilled for over 10 hours by Customs officials and allowed to go home at 2.30 am on July 15. The Kerala gold smuggling scandal came to the fore after Customs officials seized 30 kg of gold worth Rs.15 crore at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport on July 5 from a diplomatic cargo addressed to a person in the UAE Consulate.

On July 16, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the suspension of Sivasankar, who served as his Principal Secretary pending the departmental inquiry. This line of action was recommended by a state government-appointed two-member committee probing his role in the gold smuggling scandal. It was reportedly found that he had violated the All-India Services Conduct rules due to his connections with the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling accused. 

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Sivasankar's role under scanner

The neighbours of Swapna Suresh have reportedly seen Sivasankar visiting her house quite often. This house has allegedly been used for planning of the smuggling operations. The Customs raided his residence and obtained CCTV footage from various places where he met Suresh and other accused in the past few months. As per sources, he was questioned by the Customs officials about the appointment of Suresh, her dubious education certificates and her role in the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited.

Sources added that the other accused Sarith and Sandeep got in touch with the senior IAS officer through Suresh. In a latest development, Republic TV has learnt that Arun Balachandran, who help the gold smuggling accused to obtain a flat opposite the state secretariat, was removed from his post in the state government on the instruction of Sivasankar. However, a WhatsApp chat accessed by the authorities indicates that Sivasankar had himself asked Balachandran to arrange for the flat. Balachandran, who served as the Marketing and Operations Director in the Chief Minister's High Power Digital Committee, has claimed innocence and stated that he acted as per orders. 

Read: Kerala Gold Smuggling: ED Files Money Laundering Case; Customs To Interrogate Key Accused

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