Kochi: Former principal secretary M Sivasankar could land in more trouble following the statements Swapna Suresh, the second accused in the gold smuggling case, has given to the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

She has told the agency that she had made three trips abroad with Sivasankar and that she had kept the gold found in a bank locker in Thiruvananthapuram on the instructions of the suspended bureaucrat.

Swapna had visited Oman with Sivasankar in 2017. It was earlier known that the two had travelled together abroad in October 2018, in connection with the chief minister’s relief fund in the wake of the floods in Kerala. Later, the ED found out that the two had travelled together once before, too, in April 2018. When confronted with evidence, the two admitted that they had travelled together in April 2018 also.

Swapna's lawyer has given an explanation in court regarding the gold found in the bank locker maintained in her name. He had said that she had got the gold for her marriage and also produced in the court a picture of her wearing the ornaments on her wedding day.

According to her statement to the ED, the gold was kept in the locker as per the instructions of Sivasankar. The ED had informed the court about Swapna’s relationship with Sivasankar. According to the investigation team, Sivasankar was aware of Swapna’s secret dealings.

Meanwhile, investigators have also found that Swapna had sought Sivasankar’s help to smuggle foreign currencies out of the country before her name cropped up in connection with the Trivandrum airport gold smuggling case. She had sought the assistance of the former principal secretary to the chief minister to obtain tickets for five foreigners on the Vande Bharat flights that went abroad in June. Sivasankar had directly got in touch with the airline to get her the ticket, investigators said.

Sivasankar has told the investigating agencies he had only helped UAE nationals who were stuck due to the COVID lockdown. However, investigators have found that the five people were not foreigners. They said the five people had smuggled eight baggages and that the baggages were not properly screened at the airport. ED questioned Swapna about these baggages too.

The court had allowed ED to question Swapna in custody till Monday. The agency will produce her in court on Monday.

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