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.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government is all set to reduce bus fares in the state in the wake of congestion on KSRTC buses. The government will approach the Justice Ramachandran Commission in January to look into the extent to which the current rate can be reduced. New rates will be determined according to this report.

However, the Department of Transport has said it will not go back to pre-June fares when the bus fare is revised. The new rate is expected to be 10-15% higher than before June, including a hike in diesel prices.

The 25% increase in fares was implemented on June 2 last year when the number of passengers on buses had to be reduced to meet the Covid norms. Now, with the increase in the number of people relying on buses, it has also been allowed to travel.

KSRTC has decided to launch all buses from January 1. The fare was hiked in June by maintaining the ordinary minimum fare of Rs 8. The minimum chargeable distance was reduced from five kilometers (two fair stages) to two and a half kilometers (one fire stage). The kilometer rate has been increased from 70 paise to 90 paise. There was also a 25% increase in the fare for superclass buses.

Thiruvananthapuram: Anil Nedumangad, a well – known Malayalam film actor and television presenter, has passed away at the age of 48. The incident took place while bathing in the Malankara reservoir in Thodupu. He went for a bath with his friends during the shooting. The stepping stone to Anil P Nedumangad’s film was in 2014 with Rajeev Ravi’s Steve Lopez. Anil’s role as a villain in the 2016 film Kammattipadam marked a turning point in his acting career. Anil Nedumangad played the role of a police officer in the movie Ayyappanum Koshyum. Anil Nedumangad has acted in more than 30 films in various roles. He educated at Nedumangad Manja High School, Thiruvananthapuram MG College, and School of Drama.