Gold smuggling case: Booked flat as directed by Sivasankar, says his subordinate Arun Balachandran

Kochi: The flat was booked in the Heather Tower in Thiruvananthapuram for the smugglers by Arun Balachandran, a subordinate of former principal secretary M Sivasankar. Arun told Mathrubhumi News that he booked the flat as directed by Sivasankar.

Currently, Arun is employed as director of marketing at Techno Park. Though he first denied to have booked the flat, later he confessed. Arun made it clear that Sivasankar told him to book the flat for his friend. It was found in the probe that the smugglers and Swapna Suresh's husband used to hold discussions at this flat.

Arun said that Sivasankar asked him to inquire the rate of flats in Heather tower. Following this, he inquired the same and informed Sivasankar. All these conversation took place via WhatsApp. He told the Heather staff that the flat is for a friend of Sivasankar and asked to offer a discount.

However, Arun claimed that he did not book the room. "There is another staff named Arun in Sivasankar's office. I don't know if he had booked the room. About Rs 3500-4500 was asked as rent for the flat. Sivsankar had told me that the flat is for a friend's family and they want to stay there for three days before shifting to a new flat, Arun Balachandran said.