ED arrested me after I refused to name political targets: Sivasankar
KOCHI: Former principal secretary M Sivasankar, who has been remanded in judicial custody on charges of money laundering in connection with the gold smuggling case, alleged on Monday that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him because he refused to name political targets.
Sivasankar stated so in a counter argument after the ED filed a report opposing his bail plea at the special court in Kochi dealing with cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court is set to deliver the verdict in the bail petition on Tuesday.
His counsel filed a petition claiming that ED has adopted dishonest and unethical practices to frame him.
“Sivasankar was pressurised to name a few political targets of ED’s choice which he refused and consequently he was arrayed as an accused and was arrested,” said the argument note.
The IAS officer also claimed that he was an easy political target because of the post he held. “Sivasankar was purposefully dragged into controversy apparently due to the post held by him whereby he had proximity to the executive head of the state. Therefore, the applicant is a victim of association and nothing more,” his counsel claim in the report.
Sivasankar contested his arrest and ED’s claim at the Kerala High Court when his anticipatory bail plea was considered. He said one of the main grounds for his arrest was that the amount recovered from the second accused, Swapna Suresh, was generated from gold smuggling with his active support.
Later, ED backtracked from its earlier claim in a report filed before the court on November 5 and stated that the money in the locker was a kickback received from one Khalid in connection with the LIFE Mission project.
“The entire role of ED in a case originally registered by NIA is to investigate the proceeds of the crime and its laundering. The ED has made glaring contradiction in this very aspect of proceeds of the crime, conjuring up a narrative as and when they please to suit the requirement of procuring the bail applicant’s arrest/custody or remand as the case may be on that particular day in court. This is highly suspicious and smacks of malice and such an investigating agency ought not to be trusted for the proper presentation of facts before this court,” stated the argument note.
‘WHATSAPP CHATS HAVE HALF-TRUTHS’
Sivasankar claimed that the WhatsApp chats presented by ED have half-truths and lies designed to mislead the court. After going through various WhatsApp chats between Sivasankar, his chartered accountant —Venugopal — and Swapna, it is clear that the bureaucrat has never sought clarification on the exact amount deposited in the locker, number of transactions and their quantum, persons involved in the transactions and the end use of the money, the report said.“There exists no evidence to show that the applicant had managed or supervised the said locker,” it added.
ED refutes allegations
Kochi: The Enforcement Directorate denied allegations raised by M Sivasankar. The agency claimed that all the WhatsApp chats by Sivasank-ar, which prove his involve-ment in the case, were not included in the argument note.