THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was the name of an elephant, Aswathamavu, that Yudhishtira, the embodiment of truth, used to trick Dronacharya during Kurukshetra war in Mahabharata. Hearing that Aswathamavu (the elephant) died, Drona thought of his son by the same name and couldn’t recover from that rude shock.
Senior IAS officer M Sivasankar has named his memoirs as Aswathamavu verum oru Aana (Aswathamavu is only an Elephant) to convey to readers how central investigation agencies and mainstream media tweaked the truth in relating him to the gold smuggling through diplomatic channel as if to sound them as the truth coming from the ‘official source’.
Sivasankar, who is currently posted as principal secretary of sports and youth welfare department, hasn’t informed the government officially about penning a memoir. Sources close to him said the civil service conduct rules say there civil servants don’t need government’s prior nod to publish literary work.
In the book, Sivasankar terms UAE consulate former official Swapna Suresh, the mastermind of the gold smuggling racket, as his “former friend”. “I was shell shocked to learn about the illegal activities of Swapna Suresh who had been a close friend for the past three years,” the officer says in the book, excerpts of which were published in the February edition of Pachakuthira literary magazine released on Thursday.
There is nothing to connect me with case, Sivasankar says in book
Sivasankar’s book mainly covers the trying period from June 2020 to February 2021, when he had been accused in the gold smuggling case along with Swapna and was incarcerated subsequently. In the book, Sivasankar admits that Swapna had sought his help to release the baggage confiscated at the airport, but he didn’t intervene.
A detailed account of the interrogation by ED and Customs are part of the book which also alleges that additional solicitor general had lied in the court to ensure the rejection of his anticipatory bail application. “How casually did he (ASG from Delhi) told the court that I was the mastermind and kingpin of gold smuggling. Though I was close to Swapna and family, there was no evidence to link me with the case. Even today, there is nothing to connect me with the case.
What might have compelled the government lawyer to lie to the court?” Sivasankar asks. By analysing the first 90 hours’ interrogation by Enforcement Directorate, Customs and NIA , Sivasankar said there was tremendous pressure on these agencies to link the case with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. “Media prepared the background for this.
But, some of the officials were reluctant to do that without proper evidence. They wanted some statement against the CM. If it’s my statement, things would be easier. They believed that if arrested, extracting a statement of their choice from me would be easier. But, there was an issue. There were no discrepancies in the statements given by me to various agencies,” he writes. Ravi D C, managing director of DC Books, said the book would reach Kochi, Kottayam and Trivandrum shops on Friday and will be available across the state by Saturday. “We haven’t planned a formal launch considering the Covid situation.
There is nothing that discusses the matters that are sub judice in the book. Sivasankar has written the story in a very different style which we hope will be received by readers,” he told TNIE. Sivasankar, who had been arrested in the gold smuggling case, was released on bail on February 4, 2021, after 98 days in custody. After 17 months, his suspension was revoked in January, this year.