Court denies bail to tainted IAS officer
KOCHI: A court in Kerala rejected the bail application moved by former principal secretary to the chief minister, M Sivasankar, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Oct.28 for his involvement in money laundering in collusion with another accused in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling scam.
Upholding the arguments of the ED, which is probing the money trail of the smuggling racket, Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court on Tuesday refused to grant bail to the suspended IAS officer who was in the custody of the central agency for the past 19 days. He has been remanded till Nov.26.
The national investigation agency( ni a ), customs and the ED are conducting parallel investigations into the seizure of gold worth nearly Rs15 crore, smuggled in diplomatic baggage at Trivandrum International Airport on July 5.
The IAS officer was suspended from service ater his links to Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the case, came to light.
The ED alleged that Sivasankar had a role in the gold smuggling through the diplomatic channel. The agency strongly opposed the bail application, saying that if bail is granted the accused may abscond and is likely to influence witnesses.
The ED had stated that Swapna has given a statement claiming that Sivasankar and his team in the chief minister’s office were aware of the smuggling of the gold.
The ED had also alleged that Sivasankar had intervened to get the diplomatic baggage containing smuggled gold cleared without examination by the Customs.
The counsel for Sivasankar countered the ED’S argument, saying the allegation was raised based only on the statements given by Swapna during her custodial interrogation.
There are contradictions in the Enforcement Directorate’s reports in the case, said Sivasankar in his affidavit.
The agency was fabricating stories as per its daily requirements, he alleged.
He said that he was arrested for refusing to reveal during interrogation the names of political leaders as required by the ED.