Gold case: NIA quizzes Kerala former secretary; will he be made a witness?

KOCHI: Senior IAS officer, and former principal secretary to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, M Sivasankar, was questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for almost nine hours on Monday over the gold smuggling racket that has cast a shadow on the LDF government, particularly the CM’s office.
Sivasankar, who was questioned from 10am to 7pm at the NIA office, has been asked to appear again before the agency on Tuesday. NIA sleuths were tight-lipped on the extent of Sivasankar’s involvement in the case, though legal and political observers say that the length of the questioning would mean that the agency did have some loose ends to tie up regarding the IAS officer’s connections to Swapna Suresh and some of the other main accused.
S Rajeev, Sivasankar’s lawyer, told reporters that it is important to note that Sivasankar’s name has so far not been mentioned in any official document related to the case. “He was in no way connected to the gold smuggling incident. The investigating agency has to decide on whether to make him a witness or not. Questioning is for clarity,” he said.