Suspended IAS officer M Sivasankar gets bail in Kerala gold smuggling case

New Delhi, Jan 25: M Sivasankar, an accused in gold smuggling case and former Principal Secretary to Chief Minister was allowed default bail in the money laundering case registered by Enforcement Directorate in relation to the gold smuggling case.

However, he won't be able to come out of jail as there are others cases registered against him.

The ED, probing the money trail in the case, had earlier alleged that Suresh in a statement claimed that Sivasankar and his team in the CMO were fully aware of the smugglingof the precious metal through diplomatic channel.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the ED and the Customs are conducting separate investigations into the racket that was busted with the seizure ofgold worth Rs 15 crore from a diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5.

The ED has alleged that Sivasankar had intervened to get the diplomatic baggage containing smuggled gold cleared without examination by the Customs. The IAS officer was suspended after his links to Suresh surfaced.