Kochi: The Economic Offences court here, hearing the gold smuggling and money laundering case, expressed shock at the involvement of ‘big sharks’ in the clandestine operations, saying that people occupying high positions had misused their power and authority.
The court’s observation came in an order, giving Customs custody of M Sivasankar, former principal secretary of the chief minister, who is now an accused in both gold smuggling and foreign currency violations cases.
The court said its observations were based on the depositions given by key accused Swapna Suresh and P S Sarith. The depositions also revealed the involvement of foreign nationals and and highly-placed individuals with links to Middle East and Kerala.
The court did not include in its order the names of people in high posts and foreigners mentioned in Swapna’s statement as it felt that publicising them at this stage could adversely affect the investigations.
The investigation team has meanwhile hinted that the dollar smuggling probe may not be limited just to Sivasankar. They are expecting even more sensational disclosures as Swapna and Sarith have reportedly sought permission to speak to the court in confidence.
Customs is believed to be working on arranging such a meeting for the two accused in the court.
