The Department of Customs, probing the controversial gold smuggling case told a Kerala court that Swapna Suresh, one of the key accused persons, has made revelations that will implicate suspended IAS officer M Sivasankar in the foriegn currency smuggling case as well. The statement of Customs comes days after a special court in Kochi said that gold smuggling accused Swapna and Sarith PS has revealed involvement of “big sharks” in a foreign currency smuggling racket.
The Customs made the allegation against Sivasankar on Tuesday, who is an accused in the gold smuggling case, while the court was considering his bail plea. Following this, his bail plea was rejected.
“Swapna Suresh during her custodial interrogation, in OR No 13/2020, has made revelations implicating Shri M. Sivasankar in the currency smuggling case with strong linkages in the gold smuggling case,” Customs claimed to the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) Court in Ernakulam, while opposing Sivasankar’s bail plea.
The alleged smuggling of foreign currency from the country, by persons including a few accused in the gold smuggling case, had surfaced some months back during the investigation on gold smuggling by various central agencies.
The Customs had registered a separate case under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) against Swapna Suresh and Sarith PS in October, for allegedly smuggling huge amounts of foreign currency in USD from Kerala to UAE. Former employee of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, an Egyptian native named Khalid, is also suspected to be part of the currency smuggling.
The Customs has now told the court that Swapna has made revelations that can implicate Sivasankar in the currency case.Though Sivasankar was confronted with the questions pertaining to the revelation of Swapna Suresh, he gave evasive answers, Customs said.
Further investigation is required and few more persons need to be summoned to get clarity on the conspiracy, Customs added. The agency also added that the investigation had reached a crucial stage and granting bail to Sivasnkar will hinder the investigation. Considering the arguments of the investigation agency, the court rejected the bail plea and extended the remand period of Sivasankar.
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