Former principal secy to Kerala CM M Sivasankar suspended in connection with gold smuggling case

“Based on a report submitted by a two-member probe committee headed by the chief secretary, it has been decided to suspend M Sivasankar as he is found to have violated the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) conduct rules. A probe is on to investigate the allegations of fake credentials used by Swapna Suresh for the job she got in the Space Park project. I will respond on other matters after studying the report,” the chief minister said at his daily Covid-19 briefing.

Read | M Sivasankar: Bureaucrat who plugged Kerala into digital world

There have been allegations that Sivasankar maintained close touch with Suresh, who worked as an operations manager with KSITIL under the IT department, and Sarith Kumar, the first accused in the smuggling case. Call data records, accessed by local media houses, showed Sivasankar had placed several lengthy calls to Kumar before the failed smuggling bid came to light. There have also been reports that Suresh and Kumar, along with Sandeep Nair, another accused in the case, have met at Sivasankar’s apartment in Thiruvananthapuram a couple of times.

Also read | Kerala gold smuggling case explained

While the chief minister maintained that Suresh was hired to her position by a third-party placement agency, Sivasankar’s role in her hiring without adequately verifying her professional or educational background also remains under the scanner. The Opposition, including the BJP and the Congress, have been clamouring for a CBI probe into the hiring of Suresh and the role of Sivasankar. Both parties have repeatedly stated that the buck doesn’t stop with Sivasankar alone and that the chief minister’s office has been compromised.

Sivasankar was also questioned by the Customs officers for nearly seven hours in connection with the smuggling case.