Former Chief Secretary M. Shivshankar, accused in the special and gold smuggling case of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday. He was admitted to Ayurveda Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. Earlier on Wednesday, the Kerala High Court rejected M Shivshankar’s plea and refused to grant him anticipatory bail. After this, the ED has taken this action.
According to the information, suspended IPS M Shivshankar, accused in the gold smuggling case, had filed an anticipatory bail petition in the High Court. Taking cognizance of the petition, the High Court had directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Customs Department not to arrest them. He was arrested by the investigating agency after he was denied anticipatory bail on Wednesday.
BJP state president K Surendran claimed that it had become clear that the needle of suspicion for abetment in the gold smuggling case pointed to the Chief Minister.
Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy said that Pinarayi Vijayan had forfeited his right to continue as Chief Minister in the light of the latest developments.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs V.Muraleedharan reacted by saying that this is just the beginning of the probe reaching the big fish.
“The Kerala government and the CPI-M have been trying their best to thwart the present probe by various national agencies , but nothing can be done to prevent the probe from now going forward. This is just the beginning of the probe reaching bigger people. In his own interest and for all, it’s better that Vijayan now puts in his papers, so the damage can be minimised,” said Muraleedharan.
