The customs department today formally arrested the Kerala IAS officer M Shivashankar. The arrest was made in connection with the gold smuggling case in Kerala. The customs (preventive) commissioner visited the jail this morning and arrested the enforcement directorate after investigating the money laundering case in the gold smuggling case.
M Sivashankar was produced before the Kochi Court where he was sent to the Enforcement Directorate. The agency has inquired in detail about the Kerala gold smuggling case. Sivakumar’s bail application was rejected by the ED authorities after the Kerala High Court rejected him. The case was investigated by the customs officials and he was presented with WhatsApp chats with the chartered accountant as a key witness against Sivashankar. As Shivshankar did not cooperate with the proceedings, he had to be questioned in custody, officials told the court.
Kochi: The customs department today recorded the arrest of former Kerala general secretary M Shivshankar (on file).
He remains in judicial custody and will remain in jail until Nov. 26 in an ED registered case #keralagoldsmugglingcase. pic.twitter.com/1kt0FwzTMl
– ANI (@ANI) November 24, 2020
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The arrests were made by the Customs Department after obtaining permission from the Special Court for Corruption Prevention Act 2002 (PMLA) cases. The Customs Department has stated before the special court that they have strong evidence against this officer in the gold smuggling case. M Sivashankar is the former Chief Secretary of Kerala Pinarayi Vijay.
The customs department said 15 persons were arrested in the case. The main accused are Swapna Suresh, Sarith PS and Sandeep Nair. Let us tell you that 30kg of smuggled gold was seized on diplomatic goods at Trivandrum on July 5th.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Enforcement Directorate and the Customs Department are investigating the case separately. IAS officer M Shivashankar has been suspended due to his links with Suresh.
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