KOCHI: The enforcement directorate said M Sivasankar, former principal secretary to the chief minister, flew abroad thrice with Swapna Suresh, accused in the gold smuggling case. In April 2017 the two went together to the UAE. In 2018, Swapna went to Oman and the two met there. In 2018 the two travelled with chief minister to UAE for flood relief fund. The enforcement informed the court that Swapna agreed that the bank locker was opened along with the chartered accountant as per the directive of Sivasankar, to store the gold.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) grilled Sivasanlkar for nearly five and a half hours on Saturday. He was summoned to the office in Kochi and quizzed. He was questioned to know whether he was aware of her hawala dealings and violation of Foreign Exchange Rules. Sivasankar was firm in his statement given to various investigating agencies that though he is acquainted with her, he is not aware of her illegal dealings. He said that he just arranged the chartered accountant for her to open a joint account in a bank in the capital city. He said that he does not know the details of the account. The enforcement directorate said that only an initial questioning was completed. After analyzing the statements of the accused and if there are any discrepancies, he will be summoned again. Swapna, Sandeep Nair and Sarith were in the custody of the enforcement when Sivasankar was questioned.