Kochi: Customs says there is strong evidence against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former principal secretary M Shivashankar in the gold smuggling case. Shivshankar abused his closeness to the Chief Minister. Shivshankar’s activities also informed the court that he had abused his position as the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. The affidavit was filed against Sivashankar in his bail application. Shivashankar was aware of the involvement of consulate officials in the smuggling. As a senior official, he had to inform the government about this, the customs court explained.
Meanwhile, central agencies have extended the probe into the financial dealings of some top leaders of the state with gold smuggling accused to Dubai. Swapna Suresh and P.S Sarith, accused in a gold smuggling case, alleged that the money of a top state leader was smuggled abroad in dollars. Sarith had also given a statement to Customs. Based on this statement, the investigation revealed that two more Malayalees in Dubai were also involved in the case. The agencies found that they were the ones who received the dollars brought to Dubai through a senior official at the UAE Consulate.
