A 3-member staff staff of Customs officers at the residence of M Sivasankar now
Thiruvananthapuram:
A senior Kerala IAS officer deposed right before Customs officials Tuesday in connection with ongoing investigations into the smuggling of 30 kg of gold by diplomatic channels in the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.
It had been alleged that the officer, M Sivasankar, experienced back links to principal accused Swapna Suresh and sought to defend her from the authorities.
Simply call information leaked by unidentified resources confirmed phone calls made by the accused to Mr Sivasankar and aKT Jaleel, the bigger training minister, and minister for welfare of minorities, who stated he had been instructed to speak to Ms Suresh by the UAE Consulate Standard about “foods aid”.
The leaked information confirmed that Sarith, yet another accused who has been arrested by the Customs (Preventive) Department, referred to as Mr Sivasankar at least 14 occasions over the past a few months.
Main Minister Vijayan, whose govt has occur under scrutiny by the opposition, confirmed that the phone information would be further more probed by the Main Secretary and the Supplemental Chief Secretary of the finance division.
On Mr Sivasankar’s alleged part in the circumstance the Main Minister said there had been, for now, inadequate grounds to move forward against him.
“Other than the link with the woman, no other grounds are there to suspend him now. A govt cannot take motion primarily based on the figment of imaginations. Let the probe be done, ” he claimed, in response to opposition calls for that he be suspended.
M Sivasankar was Principal Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Business office and IT Secretary. He has been eradicated from equally posts.
The accused in the scenario are previous consulate employees who ended up allegedly retained on “request basis”. Ms Suresh also secured a contract job in the IT office, allegedly employing faux certificates. This far too is remaining probed.
Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, the two critical accused, were despatched to 3-day judicial custody by the NIA on Sunday. They are presently in COVID quarantine centres as they have been brought back again from Bengaluru.
The NIA (Countrywide Investigation Agency) court will listen to the petition on extending their custody just after their COVID-19 test effects are out.
On Friday the NIA registered an FIR (1st data report) less than UAPA (Unlawful Functions (Prevention) Act) and took around the circumstance.
The central agency explained original inquiries experienced exposed that proceeds from the smuggled gold might have been used to finance terrorism in India.
