Kerala CM’s close aide seeks two days time for third round of ED questioning

Kochi, Dec 21 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s close aide C.M. Ravindran, who was to have appeared for a third time before the Enforcement Directorate here on Monday, has sought two more days time for it.
In an email to the ED Kerala headquarters here on Monday, Ravindran said that since he has to undergo post Covid medical checkups, he needs two more days time before he can appear before the agency again.
On Thursday and Friday, Ravindran was subjected to several hours of questioning. He denied any wrongdoing in the infamous Kerala gold smuggling case, where the prime accused is Swapna Suresh, who is alleged to have close links with the office of Vijayan.
Swapna has already confessed that her mentor was the now jailed former secretary to Vijayan – M. Sivasankar, a senior IAS officer in the state.
The ties between Sivasankar and Ravindran is an open secret even though the latter has denied any wrongdoing. The ED is now probing the assets of both Ravindran and his wife.
It was last Thursday that Ravindran finally turned up before the ED, after ducking three previous notices sent to him.