Thiruvananthapuram: The Enforcement Directorate has said suspended IAS officer M Sivasankar travelled thrice to the Gulf countries with Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case.
The ED, which is probing the money trails of the racket, made the submission before the special court for PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) cases. The agency also filed a petition for judicial remand of Suresh, Sarith P S and Sandeep Nair at the end of their custody with the agency.
“It is further revealed that during October 2018 A-2 (Suresh) and Sivasankar travelled together to UAE and returned together and this particular trip was coupled with the visit of the Chief Minister of Kerala to UAE for seeking assistance of Indians there for flood relief in Kerala”, the ED said.
It also said Suresh kept the proceeds of the crime in a bank locker jointly operated with a third person as per the instruction of Sivasankar.
Also opposing the bail plea of the accused, the ED said an in-depth investigation into these aspects was to be conducted.