Kerala government, today, suspended M. Sivasankar, former principal secretary to the chief minister and also the IT secretary, in connection with the gold smuggling case. Sivasankar was removed from the post after his proximity to Swapna Suresh, the main accused in the case, came to light.
The decision has been taken as per the recommendations of the committee headed by the chief secretary.
“The committee gave the report this evening. The committee has found out that Sivasankar has violated the service rules, and has recommended his suspension,'' Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced today.
Sivasankar had already been removed from both the posts on July 7 after his name emerged in gold smuggling case.
The chief minister also said that further inquiry will be done into all the appointments Sivasankar had done in the past four years in the IT department.
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Sivasankar was one of the most powerful IAS officers in the CMO. He was one of the first few appointments, the chief minister had made after the LDF came to power in 2016. Sivasankar's proximity to Swapna gave a political colour to the smuggling case, with opposition parties alleging that Vijayan was trying to protect the IAS officer.
CM Vijayan, on the other had, had maintained that he would not take action against anyone based on hearsay. “The government will not protect any culprit. We will take the correct action after facts are verified,” he had said while appointing the committee headed by the chief secretary to look into the matter.
The Customs interrogated Sivasankar for seven hours yesterday, during which he, reportedly, admitted he was friends with both Swapna and Sarith—another accused in the case—for the past few years.
Meanwhile, the chief minister added that the police are also investigating into the issue of Swapna obtaining a contract job in one of the offices under the IT department. “The police have been asked to submit the report at the earliest,” Vijayan said.
He also expressed satisfaction with the NIA investigation in the case.
