Gold smuggling case: Relief for Kerala CM's former secretary M Sivasankar from NIA

In a relief to Kerala Chief Minister's former principal secretary M Sivasankar, the NIA team probing the gold smuggling case on Thursday informed NIA special court in Kochi that Sivasankar was not an accused in the case registered by NIA.

It was while considering an anticipatory bail plea of Sivasankar that NIA stated that so far there was no reason to arrest Sivasankar in connection with NIA's case and hence the court closed the anticipatory bail plea.

Meanwhile, the anticipatory bail plea of Sivasankar in connection with the probe against him by the Enforcement Directorate and Customs would be considered by the Kerala High Court on Friday. The court earlier restrained both the agencies from arresting Sivasankar till Friday.

Though the customs made a move to arrest Sivasankar on October 16, Sivasankar complained of discomfort and was rushed to a private hospital. The customs have raised suspicions over this.