Former secretary to Kerala CM seeks anticipatory bail

Kochi, Oct 14 (SocialNews.XYZ) After being questioned by various national agencies, senior IAS official and former secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan - M. Sivasankar - on Wednesday filed for anticipatory bail in the Kerala High Court.

The plea will be heard on Thursday, as he fears an arrest by the Enforcement Directorate who by now have questioned him for a total of 30 hours. Sivasankar said he has revealed all that he knew and added that he had no clue about Swapna's links with gold smuggling.

Ever since the Customs arrested P.S. Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here on July 5, life has been tough for Sivasankar -- for the past four years one of the most powerful officers in the state by virtue of being secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Sarith was arrested for allegedly smuggling gold in the diplomatic baggage arriving at the Consulate here. The case took a dramatic turn after the arrest of another former employee of the Consulate, Swapna Suresh and her associate Sandip Nair by the NIA from Bengaluru.

Vijayan first removed Sivasankar as his secretary and then as State IT secretary, after it surfaced that Swapna and Sivasankar were close friends, which enabled her to get a plush job in the Space Park of the Kerala government, which is under Vijayan.

Sivasankar was soon suspended from service and by now he has been questioned by the Customs, NIA and the ED.

The case took a new turn, when Vijayan for the first time since July 5 admitted on Tuesday that he had met Swapna a few times and this was quickly taken up by the Opposition.

Source: IANS