The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's additional private secretary C M Raveendran for the third time for quizzing.
Though Raveendran was summoned twice last month, he did not turn up as he was infected by Covid-19, and was hospitalised for post-coronavirus treatment also.
Raveendran's hospitalisation just ahead of ED summoning him for the second time had triggered allegations that it was a deliberate attempt to evade ED quizzing.
The ED was learnt to have already collected details regarding the wealth and investments of Raveendran and his close family members. He is directed to appear before ED on December 10.
With the second phase of local body polls scheduled to be held on December 10, a section in the Left-Front government is suspecting a political ploy on summoning Raveendran on that day itself.
It was learnt that Raveendran came under the ED scanner on the basis of information received from quizzing the chief minister's former principal secretary M Sivasankar. Raveendran has been a close confidant of Vijayan as well as many top CPM leaders. Hence his quizzing would be very crucial for the state government.
Meanwhile, the gold smuggling case is now assuming more significance as key accused Swapna Suresh and Sarith PS have told the Customs about the involvement of many prominent persons behind the racket. The Customs has also recorded the statement of the two before a magistrate.
Published 04 December 2020, 14:07 IST