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Kerala suspends CM’s former secretary as heat rises in gold smuggling case
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the action was taken on the basis of an inquiry conducted by a two-member panel headed by chief secretary Viswas Mehta.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday announced that the government has suspended his former principal secretary M Sivasankar, a senior IAS officer, for flouting service rules amid reports of his imminent arrest in the gold smuggling case.
Vijayan said the action was taken on the basis of an inquiry conducted by a two-member panel headed by chief secretary Viswas Mehta.
“Inquiry report pointed out that there were some lapses on his part and he violated all-India service rules,” said the CM.
The opposition Congress and BJP said the CM cannot get away with action against his former secretary. “He took action against his secretary since needle of suspicion is turning towards him. We want the CM’s resignation” said BJP’s Kerala unit president K Surendran
Considered close to Vijayan, he was removed from the powerful principal secretary’s post last week after reports surfaced that he was allegedly close to one of the key accused in gold smuggling case Swapna Suresh. He was grilled by the Customs department for nine hours on Wednesday.
Officials found discrepancies in his statement and decided to call him again for questioning, people familiar with the investigation said. They also said his arrest was imminent. The case blew up after Customs seized 30 kg gold from a consignment that came in the name of an official of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consulate in Thiruvananthapuram on June 5. Later the case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Many other central agencies are helping the NIA in the investigation.
The UAE attaché in Thiruvananthapuram Rashed Khamis Ali Musaiqri Alsheme who enjoys diplomatic immunity, left the country via Delhi on Tuesday. Earlier, the Union government had made a formal request to the UAE embassy for a meeting with him.
Meanwhile ,the Ministry of External Affairs has cancelled the passport of Faisal Fareed, one of the accused in the gold smuggling case who is reported to be in the UAE. After a court in Kochi issued an arrest warrant against him the NIA had approached Interpol and issued a blue corner notice against him. People familiar with the investigation said he will be extradited in a couple of days.
During investigation the NIA found that he used to procure gold and send it to the country through different channels. Fareed, who is said to run a gym and motor garage in the UAE, is reportedly close to many in the film industry. On Thursday, least 12 people were arrested by Customs and revenue intelligence in connection with the case.
Earlier this week, a NIA court had remanded four persons in the agency’s custody - Sarith Kumar, a former employee of the UAE consulate, IT consultant Swapna Suresh, Suresh’s friend Sandeep Nair and K T Rameez, an alleged agent who used to distribute smuggled yellow metal to jewellers.
