Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's former principal secretary M Sivasankar was admitted to a private Ayurveda hospital near Vanchiyoor soon after his discharge from Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital on Monday
Sivasankar who was discharged from medical college hospital at around 5:30pm was taken in the same ambulance to Ayurveda hospital to seek treatment for back pain. It is not clear how many days hospitalization he would require at the Ayurveda centre.
The former principal secretary had developed health complications and uneasiness while being taken for questioning by a team of customs officials on Friday. The customs vehicle in which he was travelling, was taken straight to PRS Hospital in Karmana and the officer was admitted to the cardiology ICU.
After thorough check up the doctors didn’t find any health issues. But with Sivasankar complaining of back pain, he was shifted to the medical college hospital on Saturday. At the orthopaedics department he was subjected to two MRI scans and on evaluation of the reports doctors found that Sivasankar had disc prolapsed and it was an old problem. The officer, who also underwent neurological evaluation, was found to have no issues. Subsequently the medical board of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College met and concluded that his present health condition did not warrant hospitalization.
The Customs want to question Sivasankar further to elicit crucial leads on his foreign trips and issues related to smuggling of foreign currency. The Enforcement Department and National Investigation Agency also want his custody for gathering more information on the meeting held in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's official residence about which gold smuggling key accused Swapna Suresh is believed to have made certain disclosures.
High court stays Sivasankar's arrest till October 23
Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court has directed the Customs not to arrest Sivasankar till October 23 in connection with the case related to gold smuggling through diplomatic baggage. The court also directed that no arrest should be made in the case registered by Enforcement Directorate till October 23.
Both the bail applications will be heard on October 23 and a detailed verdict is expected on that day.
Sivasankar has also filed a bail plea before the NIA court which will be taken up on October 22.
