Former bureaucrat from Kerala M Sivasankar, who is an accused in the Kerala gold-smuggling case, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday, February 14, in relation to the LIFE Mission case. Sivasankar was the former principal secretary of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He was questioned by the ED since Tuesday morning and was arrested the same night.
This case involves the alleged violation of foreign contribution regulations in the Kerala government's flagship project, which intended to provide homes to the poor who lost their houses in the devastating floods of 2018. The project at Wadakkanchery in Thrissur district then came under a cloud. Sivasankar has been summoned after they recently completed a few rounds of questioning of Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case, and interrogated her along with two other accused in the same case.
The CBI had earlier arrested Unitac builder Santhosh Eapen besides questioning top government officials, including Sivasankar, in the Life Mission case.
The case surfaced after the gold smuggling case came to light in June 2020 in which Sivasankar was jailed. Both Swapna Suresh and Sarith employed in the UAE Consulate, were later found to have a role in Life Mission funds misappropriation too. The state government then had approached the Kerala High Court to stop the probe, but it dismissed the pleas and said that an ongoing CBI probe should continue in the case involving senior government officers and contractors. The CBI had then taken a position that private company Unitac, carrying out construction on behalf of a Kerala government body, did not get the contract through a tender.
The project entailed construction of 97 apartments and a health centre, and it was alleged that both the gold smuggling case accused held talks with Unitac and fixed a commission of 30% of the project cost -- 20% to a UAE official and 10% to Swapna Suresh and other co-accused for approvals and other file movements.
The CBI claimed that Sivasankar had met Unitac owner Santhosh Eapen at his chamber along with Swapna Suresh and assured full support. UV Jose, the then Life Mission Chief Executive Officer, was also allegedly present at this meeting.
In July 2020, 30 kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crore — that was camouflaged as diplomatic baggage to the UAE Consulate — was seized at the Trivandrum International Airport. The Customs registered a case against two staffers of the Consulate – Swapna Suresh and PS Sarith – and a cargo agent Sandeep Nair. The gold and cash seized from Swapna’s locker led to the discovery that she received the money as commission for helping a contractor bag a project under the Kerala government’s ambitious LIFE Mission programme to provide housing for the poor. Sivasankar was arrested by the ED on Tuesday in regard to this case.
The gold smuggling case is currently being tried by the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court at Ernakulam. The case was later taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which registered a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The ED subsequently registered a case on the basis of the NIA case.