KOCHI: Chief minister’s former principal secretary, M Sivasankar who has been arrested for the dollar transfer case in connection with the gold smuggling was taken to Kochi by the probe team of ED. The questioning will start soon. ED officials, within minutes after hearing the news of high court cancelling the interim bail petition of Sivasankar, arrested him from a private treatment centre. Customs officials have also reached in the ED’s office at Kochi and officials of both department will grill him jointly. Youth Congress activists have attempted to cross the wall of ED’s office as part of their protests.

Earlier, the court has not accepted the contentions raised by Sivasankar for bail. The court which accepted pleas of ED and customs completely rejected Sivasankar’s plea for bail. Justice Ashok Menon who heard the plea of ED and customs against Sivasankar’s interim bail, noted that giving bail to a powerful person like Sivasankar could facilitate him to destroy the key evidence in the case. ED said that Sivasankar has a role in the conspiracy for gold smuggling and he even misused his official position in chief minister’s office for it. Customs has also said that Sivasankar’s interim bail application has no legal standing.