Kochi, Dec 4 (IANS): At a time when various national probe agencies are making all out efforts to crack the infamous Kerala gold smuggling case, the Customs department suspects that reverse hawala transactions had taken place from Kochi to the UAE through the diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
According to Customs sources, the suspected amount ran into crores, and the main players who were behind this are alleged to be the prime accused in the gold smuggling case -- Swapna Suresh and P.R. Sarith -- both of whom were employees of the UAE Consulate. The catch in this is that the money belonged to the high and mighty, especially those in the political field. The Customs suspects that both Swapna and Sarith were mere tools and hence there lives could be in danger.
The Customs has already interrogated M. Sivasankar, a top IAS officer and former secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, as an accused in the reverse hawala operations and the gold smuggling case. Sivasankar was arrested on October 29 and his statements were recorded by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and later by the Customs. He is presently cooling his heels at a jail here.
In a related development on Friday morning, the Customs brought Kerala policeman Jayaghosh, who was on security duty at the UAE Consulate in the state capital, and the driver in the Consulate, Siddiq, to Kochi and their questioning is still underway.
It may be recalled here that soon after the gold smuggling case surfaced with the arrest of Sarith on July 5, Jayaghosh had attempted suicide and was later moved to the hospital. He was subesequently suspended from service.
Ever since the case came to light, the Congress and the BJP are up in arms demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, especially after Sivasankar's arrest. Now all eyes are on C.M. Ravindran, Vijayan's close aide and party nominee to the post of assistant private secretary in the office of the Chief Minister, who was served the third notice on Friday to appear before the ED on December 10.