Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram: The chief minister's former principal secretary M Sivasankar and Swapna Suresh were questioned at the same time at Kochi Enforcement Directorate (ED) office and Attakulangara jail respectively, in connection with the case pertaining to gold smuggling through diplomatic baggage.
The information during the questioning was exchanged simultaneously between the officials deployed at the two places. Sivasankar who is the third accused in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case registered in connection with gold smuggling, will be produced in the court on Wednesday as his custody period ends at 11 am.
Sivasankar's bail plea will also be considered on Wednesday.
With the ED completing the questioning of Sivasankar, there is a possibility that Customs might record his arrest. In that case Customs will seek his custody for further questioning.
However, in the event of customs not seeking his custody and the court rejecting his bail plea, Sivasankar will have to remain in judicial custody.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) which joined the probe after registering a case under the provisions of UAPA and the CBI which is probing the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) violation in Life Mission, have not yet conveyed their stand on Sivasankar before the court. There are certain disclosures regarding the cases being investigated by NIA and CBI, in the statements given by Sivasankar before the ED.
