Kerala HC stops Customs from arresting IAS officer in gold smuggling case

Sivasankar, who was admitted to a hospital on Friday, moved the HC saying the Customs department was harassing and 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 Kerala High Court on Monday stayed the arrest of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former secretary M Sivasankar, a senior Indian Administrative Service officer, till October 23 in the gold smuggling case.

In his plea, Sivasankar said he had undergone more than 90 hours of questioning and probe agencies had failed to detect any wrong-doing on his part. (PTI PHOTO.)

Sivasankar, who was admitted to a hospital on Friday, moved the HC saying the Customs department was harassing and 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 HC will hear both pleas (ED and Customs) on Friday.

In his plea, Sivasankar contended that he was being made a dice in the political game and an intense media trial was on. He said he had undergone more than 90 hours of questioning and 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 and foreign exchange violation charges.

The gold smuggling case surfaced on July 5 after 30 kg of 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, a former employee of the consulate who came to receive the luggage, was arrested by the Customs after it seized gold hidden inside bathroom fittings. Two other suspects, Swapna Suresh and 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 and 30 people have been arrested so far.