Gold smuggling case: Sivasankar admits to getting Swapna's baggage cleared

The ED claims that the former principal secretary spoke to a senior Customs officer and requested the baggage to be cleared without inspection at prime accused Swapna Suresh's request. The agency also said that he knowingly assisted in the "process of activity" connected with the proceeds of crime and therefore committed the offence of money laundering.

M Sivasankar, the former principal secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who was arrested in the gold smuggling case, has been sent to 7-day Enforcement Directorate custody by a court in Kochi.

ED will interrogate the former bureaucrat to interrogate him in connection with the money laundering angle probe in the gold smuggling case.

Meanwhile, Asianet has accessed the arrest memo which claims that Sivasankar had admitted to facilitating the release of the diplomatic baggage.

The ED claims that the former principal secretary spoke to a senior Customs officer and requested the baggage to be cleared without inspection at prime accused Swapna Suresh's request. The agency also said that he knowingly assisted in the "process of activity" connected with the proceeds of crime and therefore committed the offence of money laundering.

According to the arrest memo, Sivasankar was involved in controlling and managing Swapna Suresh's financial dealings.

Sivasankar is also believed to have admitted to having told his Chartered Accountant Venugopal to assist prime accused Swapna Suresh manage her finances, and that he did his best to help her get a good job.