Kerala CM's former secretary M Sivasankar likely to be implicated in dollar smuggling

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's former principal secretary M Sivssankar is allegedly involved in smuggling of US dollars.

The Customs probing into the gold smuggling case said in a report submitted at a court in Kochi seeking extension of custody of Sivasankar that there was link between the gold smuggling and dollar smuggling cases.

Earlier there were reports that Sivasankar helped gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh convert Rs 1.90 crore to US dollars and it was handed over to an Egyptian national Khaled Mohamed Ali Shoukry, who was a former employee of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. Swapna was learnt to have stated that Sivasankar was aware of the illegality in the transaction and smuggling of dollars.

Customs already registered a case in connection with dollar smuggling. Sivasankar is likely to be arraigned in the case.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister's additional private secretary C M Raveendran is likely to appear before Enforcement Directorate for quizzing. Though the ED earlier issued summons to him twice, he did not turn up citing Covid infection and treatment for post-Covid ailments. The ED carried out verification at some premises, including those associated with Kerala government, as part of the investigation.

The investigation agencies are also suspecting that gold smuggling was carried out through ships also. A probe in this regard was also progressing.