Thiruvananthapuram: Suspended senior IAS officer M Sivasankar is being questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials here in connection with ongoing probe into the Gold smuggling case.
Sivasankar was served notice and summoned by the probe agency this evening and shortly after, the former IT secretary appeared at the Peroorkada police club here.
After his close links with some accused in the gold smuggling case surfaced, Sivasankar was removed as the principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and IT secretary and later suspended.
As per the statement of the first accused, Sarith, Shivasankar is said to have played a crucial role in the gold smuggling case.
The senior bureaucrat was questioned by the Customs, which is also probing the case, for nearly nine hours, lasting till the early hours of July 15.
Read: Gold Smuggling Case: NIA puts up arrest warrant outside Faisal Fareed's house
Evidence have surfaced that the apartment near the Secretariat, where the accused conspired, was given on rent as told by Shivasankar. Reports also said that Shivasankar had erred in the illegal appointment of Swapna Suresh to the IT department when he was the IT Secretary.
Action was taken against Sivasankar after allegations surfaced that he had links with the woman accused in the case related to the attempt to smuggle gold through diplomatic baggage using the name of a person in the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Customs seized the gold, weighing over 30 kg and valued at around Rs 15 crore on July 5.
The National Investigation Agency, which has been entrusted with the probe into the case, has booked four accused-- Sarith, Swapna Suresh, Sandeep Nair and Fasil Fareed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
(With inputs from agencies)
