Gold smuggling case Suspended IAS officer Sivasankar appears

before NIA,let off after being quizzed for nine hours
Adds details
Kochi, Sep 24 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency
probing the gold smuggling case in Kerala on Thursday
questioned suspended senior IAS officer M Sivasankar for
nine hours, two months after he was quizzed by the agency
twice in connection with the sensational case, sources said.
Sivasankar, who appeared before the NIA team here at
11 am, was reportedly quizzed in the presence of Swapna
Suresh, a key accused arrested by the NIA in the case.
     He was let off at around 8.15 pm,sources said.
The former principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan was questioned a day ahead of the four-day NIA custody
period of Suresh ending.
    This is the third time the officer appeared before the
agency after allegations of his link with Suresh in the case
surfaced.
     Sivasankar was questioned twice earlier in July
--at Thiruvananthapuram and at the NIA Kochi office.
     He was again summoned for questioning as the
NIA intensified its investigation on the basis of digital
evidence it obtained from the arrested accused including
Suresh.
     The NIA, which earlier once interrogated
Suresh, had informed the court that further custodial
interrogation of the accused would be required on the basis of
the digital evidence to be obtained.
     The agency had said the accused needed to be
confronted with materials found in the digital devices by
taking them into further NIA custody.
     Action was taken against Sivasankar after
allegations surfaced that he had links with Suresh, the key
accused in the case related to the attempt to smuggle gold
through diplomatic baggage using the name of an official in
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consulate in
Thiruvananthapuram.
     The Customs seized the gold, weighing over 30
kg and valued at around Rs 15 crore on July 5.
     The NIA has booked several people, including
Suresh, Sarith P S, Sandeep Nair and Faizal Fareed, under the
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
     Suresh and Sarith are former employees of the
UAE Consulate and allegedly used their past connections to
smuggle gold using the diplomatic channel.PTI TGB BN
WELCOME
BN
WELCOME

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)