KOCHI: The interrogation of CM’s former principal secretary M Sivasankar by the Customs on Saturday was mostly based on digital evidence, call data record (CDR) and his trips to Gulf countries. After interrogating him for over 11 hours on Friday, the questioning that began from 10 am on Saturday continued till late in the night. If the interrogation on Friday was mainly over duty evasion behind the import of 17 tonnes of dates through diplomatic channel, on Saturday the entire focus of interrogation was on the gold smuggling case. Customs will give Sivasankar two days to defend his position. The interrogation is likely to resume on Tuesday.
When Customs examined the CDR of Swapna, it was found that there were calls to and from an unknown number when they went absconding after the gold consignment was seized in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5. The unknown number is suspected to be of Sivasankar. “On Friday, our team recorded 108 statements of Swapna’s husband at Thiruvananthapuram under the Customs Act. We got some vital information about people who made calls to Swapna and Sivasankar after the gold was seized. Sivasankar and Swapna were confronted about the call details,” sources said. Similarly, Customs officials said that there were some contradictions in his statements.
“After recording his statement in July, we spoke to several witnesses and collected evidence. The facts we collected were the base for the interrogation this time. There are contradictions in his recent statement and he has to be questioned again,” sources said. Customs also sought details about his trips to UAE and other countries since 2017. He was asked about the purpose of the visit and the persons he met. “He was a frequent flyer. We have doubts about some of his trips made in 2018 and 2019,” sources said.
When Sivasankar was being grilled at the Customs office, two teams also questioned accused Sarith P S and Sandeep Nair at Viyyur Central Jail and Swapna at Kakkanad District Jail. The answers given by Sivasankar were cross-checked with the trio at respective jails. Sivasankar has already admitted that he knew Swapna, Sarith and Sandeep well. Swapna was his family friend and she considered him as a mentor. They knew each other since 2017.
Similarly, it was on his advice that chartered accountant Venugopal started a joint locker for Swapna in which Rs 30 lakh in cash was stocked. Earlier, Sivasankar was interrogated at the Customs office in Thiruvananthapuram in July after the case was registered. The NIA and Enforcement Directorate have already quizzed him on five occasions. CBI recently told the Kerala High Court that it was planning to grill Sivasankar in the Wadakkancherry LIFE Mission case for violating Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
FEMA violation case likely against Swapna
Kochi: The Customs currently probing the case related to gold smuggling case via diplomatic baggage may soon register another case against prime accused Swapna Suresh for violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).The move is under consideration as the probe revealed that Swapna had abetted smuggling of foreign currency from the country with the help of her consulate identity card. Hinting at the next move, the Customs in a recent petition filed before a court in Kochi claimed that around $1.90 lakh had been taken out of the country with the help of Swapna.
However, the identity of the ‘carrier’ hasn’t been revealed yet. Illegal transportation of currency via airport comes under FEMA which allows the Customs to register a case. “It had come out during the investigation that taking advantage of the identity card issued by the consulate, the petitioner (Swapna) helped and abetted illegal transportation of $1.90 lakh abroad,” stated the report.
A source said it was Egyptian national Khalid a former consulate employee, who had carried the huge quantity of cash to UAE with Swapna’s assistance. Similarly, the Customs will look into the illegal currency conversion by Swapna through a person called Praveen. It had emerged that Praveen, an employee of UAFX Solution, helped Swapna convert around $65,000 on various occasions in 2018 and 2019. According to the Customs, she did not obtain RBI sanction for the money exchange and this amounts to FEMA violation.