The Customs department on Thursday arrested M. Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in the dollar smuggling case.
The move came soon after the Special Economic Offences court gave sanction to arrest. The Customs team came to the prison in Kakkanad to complete the arrest procedure. Sivasankar is the 4th accused in the dollar smuggling case.
Sivasankar is the fourth accused in the dollar smuggling case to be charged by the Customs. Earlier, the officials had sought permission from the court to arrest Sivasankar. The court granted permission after considering this petition.
Swapna Suresh, P. S. Sarith and UAE national Khalid, who was the accountant at the UAE consulate, are the other accused in the case. According to Customs, Sivasankar played a key role in helping the other accused, including Swapna, in smuggling 1.90 lakh dollars out of the country. Several including a bank official had given statements against Sivasankar.
Customs officials are gearing up to expand the investigation. It is learned that they are planning to question several more people. The Customs will take Sivasankar under custody and interrogate him. The officials will also question Swapna and Sarith in the prison.
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