Trivandrum: Former IT secretary and senior IAS officer M Sivasankar has been suspended from the service based on a report submitted by a committee headed by Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta on Thursday.
The committee was formed to look into the allegations against the senior civil servant over his links in the gold smuggling case.
Sivasankar violated All India Service rules, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announcing the decision, adding that the departmental probe against him will continue.
This comes after National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Customs department interrogated M Sivasankar, former principal secretary to Kerala Chief Minister, in connection with the gold smuggling through diplomatic baggage channel case.
Read:| Kerala Gold Smuggling Case: Ex-official M Sivasankar questioned in customs office for over 9 hours
The expelled bureaucrat was quizzed about his close connection with Sarith PS and Swapna Suresh, who have been named as the first and the second accused by Customs in the gold smuggling case and who are under the custody of investigation agencies.
Phone call records that have surfaced of Sarith PS and Swapna Suresh, arrested in the case related to smuggling of around 30 kilograms of gold in air cargo meant addressed to the UAE consulate in Thiruvanthapuram, have revealed that they had multiple conversations with Sivasankar, who was in charge of Kerala CMO as its principal secretary.
Also, Swapna Suresh was working under the IT department in which Sivasankar was the IT secretary.
The move comes days after 30 kg of gold worth Rs 14.82 crore smuggled in consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by Customs in Thiruvananthapuram.
The NIA has registered an FIR under Sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, against four accused persons, of which three have been arrested.
