Gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh slams top Kerala bureaucrat Sivasankar

A day after news that top Kerala bureaucrat M. Sivasankar, who is one of the accused in the infamous gold smuggling case, claimed in his autobiography that he never knew the iPhone that was gifted to him by prime accused Swapna Suresh was part of a bribe, she, on Friday, hit out at him, saying that he had "destroyed her life".

In the excerpts of his book in Malayalam, Sivasankar, who was the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan before being removed when his role emerged, said he had never done anything to get Swapna a prime job in the IT Department with a five figure monthly salary and many more things against her.

In an interview to a TV channel, Swapna said: "It was just a call from Sivasankar which fetched me the job in the IT Department. We never had any official relationship and it was a family relationship that my family had with him for three years. In our life for three years it was an inseparable relation. We used to travel regularly to Bengaluru. Since we could not go to his house, he used to regularly come to my house and we used to have food and drinks together.

"It was he who destroyed me. He used to tell me that he will take VRS from service and will settle down in Dubai. It was he who asked me to resign from the UAE Consulate office here. If I were to write a book, then many people will have to run for cover."

It was on February 1 last year Sivasankar got bail in the infamous gold smuggling and to mark that, the news of his autobiography came out.

The book published by ADC Books has been titled "Aswadhmavu Verum Oru Anna".

Sivasankar who recently turned 59, was in jail for 98 days after his arrest in October 2020, and the book delves into the time he spend in prison and other things.

Sivasankar's suspension was revoked on January 5 and has been posted as Principal Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs.

The smuggling case came to light on July 5, 2020, when the Customs arrested Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, for allegedly smuggling gold in a diplomatic baggage destined for the Consulate.

Swapna and her associate Sandip Nair were arrested in the case by the NIA from Bengaluru a few days later.

Trouble started for Sivasankar after Swapna's arrest as juicy tales of her relation with him surfaced.

Vijayan first suspended Sivasankar from service and on October 29, 2020, he was arrested.