KOCHI: Former IT Secretary M Sivasankar has left the NIA office in Kochi after nine hours of questioning in connection with the gold smuggling case. The interrogation will continue on Tuesday, sources said.

The central agency has apparently checked whether the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) should be invoked against the bureaucrat. However, the officials have not obtained any evidence regarding this so far. On the other hand, the officials seem to be reluctant to give a clean chit to the suspended IAS officer.

Sivasankar was questioned by a special team of the agency including officials from Kochi, Delhi and Hyderabad units. It is learnt that the team had prepared 56 questions.

The questioning began by around 10 am and the investigation team was accompanied by the chief of NIA's Hyderabad unit. The agency had also summoned NIA's prosecutors during the questioning session.