Gold Smuggling: Kerala Chief Secretary To Probe If Office Of CM Pinarayi Vijayan Helped Key Accused Swapna Suresh

Kerala Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta and Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Rajesh Kumar Singh began their probe to ascertain as to whether the office of state Chief Ministser Pinarayi Vijayan was compromised in any way to assist Swapna Suresh, a key figure in the gold smuggling case, The New Indian Express reported.

In a damage control move viewed as an attempt to contain the political fallout of the explosive gold smuggling case, CM Pinarayi Vijayan last week ordered the removal of M Sivasankar from the post of his secretary for his close links to Swapna Suresh

Sivasankar, an influential bureaucrat who enjoys close proximity to CM Pinarayi Vijayan, was however allowed continue as the secretary of the Electronics and Information Technology department of the state that is directly controlled by CM. The probe by chief secretary is likely to determine whether he will be able to continue in the post.

CM Pinarayi Vijayan is said to have insisted that he needs clear evidence to act against Sivasankar. “Sivasankar should not have gotten involved with the woman. So we removed him from the post,” The New Indian Express quoted CM as saying

Swapna Suresh managed to secure a key posting in a project under Kerala government's Information Technology (IT) ministry. It was later revealed that she had also used a fake degree certificate to secure the job.

Sivasankar has been accused of facilitating her appointment as operations manager at the Space Park under the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd (KSITI), which is under the IT Department of the state government.

According to a report in Manorama, Sivasankar was confirmed as a frequent visitor to Swapna Suresh’s Thiruvananthapuram flat by the officer-bearers of the residents association of the apartment building.

The chief secretary’s probe is also set to throw more light on the role of consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) which advised the government in Space Park and e-mobility projects. The consultancy faces the the prospect of being blacklisted from Kerala state government projects in case the probe findings turn out to be adverse

KSITIL MD C Jayasankarprasad has already filed a complaint accusing PwC and headhunting agency Vision Technology and Staffing Solutions Pvt Ltd for Swapna’s appointment in Space Park Project.