Kerala Speaker's assistant private secretary K Ayyappan appears before Customs officials in dollar smuggling case

Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan's assistant private secretary on Friday appeared before Customs officials probing the dollar smuggling cases in the state, sources said.

The Customs department on Thursday had served a notice to the official, K Ayyappan, at his residential address in Thiruvananthapuram, directing him to appear before the investigation team in Kochi.

Ayyappan was responsible for charting out the Speaker's daily programmes and travel related matters.

Customs sources said Ayyappan was summoned to cross examine the evidence it had gathered into the alleged involvement of some powerful persons in connection with the smuggling of dollars.

The notice asking Ayyappan to appear for questioning was delivered at his residential address on Thursday after the Speaker maintained that his prior permission was required to interrogate a member of his personal staff.

The central agency had earlier issued summons to Ayyappan at his official address in connection with the probe into the case related to alleged smuggling of $1,90,000 (equivalent to Rs 1.30 crore) by a former finance head of the UAE Consulate here to Muscat in Oman.

The Speaker had come under criticism from the Opposition for inaugurating the shop of one of the accused in the gold smuggling case, Sandeep Nair, months ago.

Read | Kerala Assembly may discuss notice against Speaker

Sreeramakrishnan has said he did not think that the central investigating agencies would question him.

"I am fully confident that there was no lapse from my side. So I have no anxiety," he said on Thursday, adding that he would end his political career if it was proved that he had accepted even one rupee as bribe from anyone.