Suspended IAS officer Sivasankar arrested in dollar smuggling case by Customs

The Customs on Thursday arrestedsuspended IAS officer M Sivasankar in the dollar smugglingcase that came to light during the probe into the goldsmuggling racket in Kerala in which he is also an accused.

The arrest of Sivasankar was recorded at a jail here,where he is lodged under judicial custody since his arrest bythe Customs and the Enforcement Direcrorate in cases relatedto smuggling of gold through diplomatic channel, Customssources said.

Hours earlier, the Customs secured permission of a courthere to arrest the IAS officer in connection with the caserelated to alleged smuggling of USD 1,90,000 (equivalent to Rs1.30 crore) by a former finance head of the UAE Consulate inThiruvananthapuram to Muscat in Oman.

Prime accused in the gold smuggling case Swapna Sureshand Sarith P S are also allegedly involved in the dollar caseand had already been arrested by the Customs.

Earlier, the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate moved aplea in the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate's (EconomicOffences) Court in Ernakulam seeking its permission to arrestSivasankar.

Sivasankar, former principal secretary to Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan, was suspended after his links to Suresh,also a former employee of the consulate, surfaced.

The Customs on January 8 had recorded the statement ofKerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan's assistant privatesecretary in connection with the dollar smuggling case.