Thiruvananthapuram: Arun Balachandran, the former IT Fellow of the Kerala Chief Minister, has alleged a bid to implicate him in the sensational gold smuggling case.
In a complaint made to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Customs Department, Arun claimed an attempt is being made to trap him in the case to protect suspended bureaucrat and former IT secretary of Kerala M Sivasankar.
Arun was removed as the Marketing and Operations Director at the IT Parks, an initiative of the IT Department, on Wednesday night after investigators got to know about his links to the smuggling racket through phone records.
Arun is accused of helping the gang in the search for a flat near the state secretariat. It was at this property the gang met and hatched conspiracies.
Arun had earlier claimed that he had booked the rental flat for the accused on the direction of Sivasankar.
He was one of the three IT Fellows of the chief minister appointed in 2017. He was later drafted to the IT Parks on a high-profile contractual post.
On Sivasankar-Swapna ties
Arun also alleged that Sivasankar had known Swapna Suresh, the second accused in the case, even before he joined the IT department. The former principal secretary of the chief minister had sought his help to buy a car at a low price for Swapna, he said.
Investigators said Arun ran a design firm in Kochi before he joined the IT department. Faisal Fareed, the third accused in the gold smuggling case who is absconding and said to be in the UAE, had used Arun’s connections in the film world he had made through the firm for smuggling activities, officials said.
They suspect that Faisal had sent the consignment with 30 kg hidden gold that was seized at the Trivandrum International Airport on July 5. The baggage was sent through the diplomatic channels and was addressed to an official in the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.
Rashid Khamis Al Shameli, an attaché with the Consulate, to whom the baggage was allegedly addressed, is said to have left India.
The NIA is planning to seek the help of the Interpol to get Faisal extradited from the UAE. External Affairs Ministry officials said his passport has been revoked.
The UAE government is waiting for a request from the Indian government to proceed with the extradition formalities.
Arun still on duty?
Though Arun has lost two key posts in the Kerala government, reportedly he is still a part of the execution committee of the Dream Kerala project intended to rehabilitate expatriates returning to Kerala for good after losing their jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project is being headed by the Kerala chief minister himself.
In the order that was issued on July 2 after the committee was formed, Arun is referred to as the Chief Minister’s IT Fellow (CMF-IT). Dr Dinesh Arora, the secretary of the Department of Public Works, is heading the committee.
It was reported earlier Arun was removed as the Chief Minister’s IT Fellow about one-and-a-half years ago after the government got information about irregularities in some financial transactions.
The Dream Kerala project was conceptualised to use the experience and skills of expatriates returning to Kerala for the development and progress of the state.
