Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 16 : In a day of developments in the gold smuggling case, Customs officials came to pick up M. Sivasankar, the former Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, for questioning on Friday evening, but as he got into their car, he complained of uneasiness and was admitted to a leading private hospital here.
The now-suspended senior IAS official, who by now has been questioned by the Customs, the National Investigation Agency and the Enforcement Directorate ever since the gold smuggling case surfaced on July 5, was asked to present himself before the Customs on Friday, but when he said he was unwell, the Customs officials came to his home.
When they decided to take him for questioning, he said he was feeling unwell and was taken to the hospital.
After a series of tests, the doctors treating him informed the officials that there was a variation in his ECG and it would not be advisable to shift him to the state-run Medical College hospital. He is now admitted at the Cardiac ICU of the private hospital.
Hearing about the incident, an NIA team also arrived at the hospital. Both the Customs and the NIA team left after some time, but asked the doctors to see that they are informed of all developments.
The doctors attending on Sivasankar are planning to do an angiogram on Saturday.
The Kerala High Court, acting on an anticipatory bail plea of Sivasankar, had ordered that the ED should not arrest him till next Friday, when the court will hear his plea in detail.
In Delhi, BJP’s south strongman and Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan, on Friday morning hit out at the Vijayan-led Left Front government in Kerala over the gold smuggling case, and demanded the Chief Minister’s resignation.
Muraleedharan alleged that Vijayan has lost the moral right to remain in the chair of Kerala Chief Minister given the latest developments, and also cited Vijayan’s “close links” with Sivasankar who has been accused of “aligning” with the accused in the gold smuggling case.
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from IANS service.