ED was the first agency to register the arrest of the retired bureaucrat in October 2020, in connection with a money laundering case related to the controversial Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case. In January 2021, the Customs (Preventive) had also registered his arrest in the case of currency smuggling.
He was interrogated on Monday from 11:30 to 19:30. The retired bureaucrat was again summoned for questioning by ED who had questioned him on several occasions. ED had planned to interview him the previous day, but postponed it as he was due to retire on that date.
ED had previously questioned the accused in the gold smuggling case – Swapna Suresh, Sarith PS, Sandeep Nair, Unitac MD Santhosh Eappen – as part of the investigation. Swapna had claimed on 23 January, before his questioning, that a commission of nearly 3 million dirhams (over Rs 6.5 crore) had taken place in connection with the controversial Wadakkanchery Life Mission project.
The alleged smuggling case in which Khaled Mohamed Ali Shoukry, a former UAE consulate official smuggled $1,90,000 (about Rs 1.3 crore) to Cairo via Oman from Trivandrum International Airport is also under investigation. agency goal. He is investigating the link between the commission allegedly paid by Eappen for the Life Mission project and the money smuggled by Shoukry.
Clock Life Mission Project: Former Kerala Chief Secretary CM M Sivasankar in ED Custody
