After two-day marathon grilling Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former secretary M Sivasankar was let off by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) but it is yet to give a clean chit to him in the gold smuggling case, said a senior official familiar with the probe.
Earlier, there were reports that the senior IAS officer will be made an approver in the case but the official denied it.
Though the government had disowned the once powerful principal secretary and took action against him many in the ruling CPI(M) fear that the probe will be used to embarrass the state government. The Opposition Congress and BJP have sought the resignation of the CM alleging that he was aware of his secretary’s actions. BJP national president J P Nadda also took pot shots at the government saying “gold is yellow everywhere but it is red in Kerala.”
On Tuesday as well Sivasankar was questioned for more than 10 hours in NIA office in Kochi. Later, he was allowed to leave for his house in Thiruvananthapuram. He was grilled twice by the customs and NIA in Thiruvananthapuram and later he was summoned to Kochi.
Once the face of the government, he was embroiled in the controversy after the seizure of 30 kg gold from a consignment addressed to an official of the United Arab Emirates consulate in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5. After the seizure, there were reports that some officials at the CM’s office allegedly pressurized the customs to release the consignment.
{{/usCountry}}Once the face of the government, he was embroiled in the controversy after the seizure of 30 kg gold from a consignment addressed to an official of the United Arab Emirates consulate in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5. After the seizure, there were reports that some officials at the CM’s office allegedly pressurized the customs to release the consignment.
{{/usCountry}}But Sivasankar reportedly told investigators that though he knew some of the accused including Swapna Suresh he was not aware of their smuggling background. There are also reports that he was instrumental in appointing Suresh as a business development manager with the Kerala Information Technology Infrastructure Limited and he helped her arrange a room in an apartment outside the state secretariat which they used for smuggling activities.