The Kerala High Court on Monday granted bail to IAS officer M Sivasankar in connection with the gold smuggling case.
The bail was granted to Sivasankar, former principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate and the Customs department. However, he will remain in custody as the Customs arrested him in the dollar smuggling case.
He was arrested on October 29 last year after Kerala HC denied him anticipatory bail and was in the custody of ED in Kochi ever since. The ED had named Sivasankar as the kingpin of the gold smuggling in Kerala. Sivasankar was suspended after his links with gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh came to light.
The dollar smuggling scam came to light during the investigation of the gold smuggling case. It was discovered that not just gold but even dollars were smuggled through diplomatic channels. The Customs arrested Sivasankar in the dollar smuggling case soon after getting permission from the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate's (Economic Offences) Court in Ernakulam last week.
