Thiruvananthapuram: The key accused in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case, P. S. Sarith has told the National Investigation Agency that former IT Secretary M. Sivasankar was aware of the smuggling.
As per reports, Sarith has also told NIA that he has had a close connection with Sivasankar for years.
Earlier, Customs had questioned Sivasakar for over 9 hours. Now it is likely that NIA will interrogate him based on Sarith’s statements. The phone call details had revealed that Sarith and Sivasankar were frequently in contact.
At present, Sivasankar is in trouble over the allegations of his links with the gold smugglers, helping them in booking a room at Heather Tower and recommending to appoint Swapna Suresh at Space Park.
Sivasankar, who was also the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, was on Thursday suspended from service. Earlier this week. Sivasankar was first removed as secretary and also from the post of IT secretary after news trickled in of his closeness to the now arrested duo of Swapna Suresh and Sarith.
The NIA has the custody of the prime accused Sarith, Swapna Suresh, Sandeep Nair and their relations with Sivasankar are now out in the open.
The gold smuggling case, which has large ramifications, first surfaced when Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, was arrested by the Customs Department on July 5 when he was facilitating smuggling of 30 kg of gold in diplomatic baggage to Thiruvananthapuram from Dubai.
It turned murkier when the name of Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here and employed with the state IT Department, surfaced. The case turned full circle when their links with Sivasankar were revealed.
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