Customs officials here created a record of sorts by subjecting M Sivasankar, senior IAS officer and ousted Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, to sustained grilling for almost nine hours until 2.30 am on Wednesday for alleged links with the accused in the sensational airport gold smuggling case.

Officials here are reportedly working on ‘definite leads’ emerging from the interrogation of the erstwhile top aide of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. If this were to throw up enough evidence to show his involvement and warranting his arrest, it would be a severe loss of face for the Chief Minister.

Swapna Suresh, the second accused in the case and a former employee of the UAE Consulate where the contraband gold was addressed to, was lately a contract employee of an IT infrastructure company of the State government under the watch of both the Chief Minister and Sivasankar, who was also the IT Secretary.

Investigation progressing well

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Customs department in Kochi told BusinessLine that the investigation is going on in coordination with all other government agencies. “We are looking for buyers, sellers, logistics players and their financiers and beneficiaries in the smuggling network. Whoever has any relevant information in the matter is welcome to come forward and share them with us,” the official said.

The Customs has arrested one Jalal of Muvattupuzha whom it suspects to have purchased the gold smuggled through the Thiruvananthapuram airport. The car used for ferrying it too has been seized. Two more persons suspected to have been involved in the case are in the Customs net.

It is also learnt that the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is separately probing the case in Kochi, would examine the contents of a bag that it had seized from a friend of Sandeep Nair, another accused. Investigators hope to lay their hands on some material clue or evidence to strengthen their case.

Tough times for government

The controversy could not have come at a worse time for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, which is less than 10 months away from completing its term and is finding itself in the midst of a tough battle against the Covid-19 pandemic with the number of infected cases and transmissions soaring by the day.

Speaking to reporters yesterday (Tuesday) during his daily Covid-19 update, the Chief Minister appeared to exude confidence over riding out the impact of the gold smuggling case, the gravest threat yet to his government. The Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and the BJP have already sought his resignation.

Asked why Sivasankar has not been suspended from service after eight days of his enforced exit, the Chief Minister said the law would take its course. A committee comprising the State Chief Secretary and the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) is already inquiring into the circumstances of hiring of Swapna Suresh.

Another case, another time

The case resembles the solar panel scam during the term of the previous Congress-led UDF that is widely believed to have denied former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy a second term in the 2016 Assembly elections. The UDF leaders say it’s payback time for the LDF, which was then the Opposition.

But the solar panel scam pales into insignificance vis-a-vis the gold smuggling case if only because of its gravity and implications on national economic security, the drafting in of the NIA and invoking of the UAPA. Agency reports from New Delhi said that the Centre is keenly watching the progress of the case.

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