Thiruvananthapuram / Kochi അവസാനിപ്പ Speaker P.S. Sriramakrishnan’s Assistant Private Secretary finally went to Customs. When the last assembly session of the government begins today, the Speaker’s Assistant Private Secretary K. Ayyappan will appear before customs for questioning in a dollar smuggling case in Kochi. This may also lead to a large protest by the opposition during the governor’s policy address today.
The decision to appear for questioning was taken last night after the customs tightened its stand. The Speaker’s Office was persuaded to change its decision, saying that if Customs tried to take him into custody, it would lead to big dramatic scenes.
Customs has received legal advice that it does not require prior permission to testify in a smuggling case. With this, Assoc. Customs said the notice was issued at the home address in Kawadiar today to appear for questioning.
The Speaker himself had directly argued that prior permission was required. Customs decided to issue a notice at the home address instead of the office as it would be a waste of time to resolve the dispute in this matter.
This is the third notice given to Ayyappan in 4 days. Earlier, Ayyappan had twice served notice at his office address but was not present. The second round of interrogation was called off on the grounds that the Assembly was in a hurry as it was convening when the first session was adjourned. This is the third time the Assembly Secretary has written to Customs seeking permission in advance.
Ayyappan is being questioned by customs for allegedly smuggling $ 1.90 million to Cairo via Muscat with the help of Khalid Ali Shoukri, the former head of the UAE consulate finance department, and Swapna and Sarit, accused in the gold smuggling case.
Meanwhile, Anil Kumar, a driver at the UAE Consulate, and two employees of UFAX Solutions in Thiruvananthapuram were questioned by the Customs Preventive Section yesterday in a dollar smuggling case.
The notice was issued digitally
Kochi ∙ K. Customs said that Ayyappan had given the notice in email and WhatsApp and that the officials had not entered the assembly building or premises to give notice. Earlier, Minister KT Additional Private Secretary to the Chief Minister C.M. Raveendran was also given a notice by the central agencies at his official address, customs officials said.
English Summary: Dollar smuggling case: Customs to quiz K Ayyappan
– .
