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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has summoned M Sivasankar, former top aide of the Kerala Chief Minister, for the second consecutive day here on Tuesday in connection with the case involving smuggling of gold through the diplomatic route at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
Sivasankar had undergone interrogation before NIA sleuths for close to five hours at the agency’s Kochi office on Monday. Tuesday’s is the third round of interrogation of one of the State’s top civil servants by the NIA. Earlier last week, the first round of questioning by the NIA was conducted in Thiruvananthapuram.
Even before that, Sivasankar was subjected to grilling for close to 10 hours by Customs in Thiruvananthapuram. The probe seeks to examine if he had any role to play in the smuggling of the contraband, after he admittedly held the first and second accused PS Sarith and Swapna Suresh as among friends.
Sivasankar had denied having any role in or knowledge of the crime, much less the antecedents of the first and second accused and their links with the carriers. He is reported to have proffered the same line of argument with the NIA, which wants further clarity on some aspects of the case.
Meanwhile, S Rajeev, Sivasankar’s lawyer, told reporters here that his client was confident that he has not committed and he did not require any support from a lawyer for now. Asked about the sustained questioning of his client, Rajeev said it was quite natural.
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