On Monday, the High Court of Kerala stayed the arrest of CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s Ex-Secretary M Sivasankar, a senior Indian Administrative Service officer, till Oct 23 in the gold smuggling case.
Sivasankar, who was admitted to a hospital on Friday, moved the High Court saying the Customs department was harassing & planning to arrest him despite his cooperation with the ongoing probe. Last week, the HC had restrained the Enforcement Directorate from arresting him till Friday. The High Court will hear both pleas (ED & Customs) on Friday.
In his petition, Sivasankar contended that he was being made dice in the political game & an intense media trial was on. He said he had undergone more than ninety hours of questioning & probe agencies had failed to detect any wrong-doing on his part. The Court later stayed his arrest till Friday.
On Friday Sivasankar was rushed to a hospital after he complained of uneasiness while customs personnel came to his house. Though he had some variation in his ECG, doctors alter said he was not suffering from any major health complications. Customs told the court that the hospitalization was a ploy to avoid arrest. It also informed the Court that it has enough evidence to book him under money laundering & foreign exchange violation charges.
The gold smuggling case surfaced on July 5 after 30 kg of the yellow metal was seized by the Customs from a package camouflaged as a diplomatic consignment marked to the United Arab Emirates consulate in the state capital.
Later, P Sarith Kumar, an Ex-Employee of the consulate who came to receive the luggage, was arrested by the Customs after it seized gold hidden inside bathroom fittings. 2 other suspects, Swapna Suresh & her accomplice Sandip Nair, were arrested from their hideout in Bengaluru five days later. Sivasankar was suspended after his alleged links with Suresh surfaced. Now, a multi-agency team is probing the case & thirty people have been arrested so far.
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