KOCHI: Arun Balachandran, former IT Fellow of the chief minister, appeared before the customs office in the gold smuggling case. The customs officer had asked him to appear before them for interrogation yesterday but he had informed that he could not appear as someone close to his family is sick. The customs was of the stand that they cannot go forward without taking his statement.

The customs had found that it was Arun Balachandran who booked the flat for the husband of Swapna Suresh, accused in the gold smuggling case. He had revealed that the flat was booked as per the instruction of M Sivasankar for his friend and family. In this context, Arun’s statement is crucial.