THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on Friday demanded the arrest of an ED official who probed the 2020 diplomatic channel gold smuggling case and was recently directed by the union government to retire prematurely.

The central government recently ordered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) deputy director, who earlier worked at the federal agency’s Kochi office, to retire after allegedly finding misconduct on his part.

The officer had investigated the case involving the smuggling of a large quantity of gold from the UAE through diplomatic baggage, during which the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s Office also came under scrutiny in 2020.

“He created a lot of buzz by raising allegations related to gold smuggling, the Life Mission case, and by trying to project the Chief Minister as an accused,” Sivankutty alleged.

The minister further claimed that the ED officer may have amassed crores of rupees during his tenure.

Sivankutty welcomed the Centre’s decision to prematurely retire the officer, but said the action should not stop there.

“His influence has not reduced. Based on the misconduct found against him, an FIR should be registered and a detailed probe conducted after putting him in jail,” Sivankutty said.

The ED probe into the gold smuggling case had led to a major confrontation between the agency and the Kerala government in 2020.

The ED had alleged that the state government violated protocol by maintaining direct links with the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.

During the probe, the agency had questioned LDF MLA K T Jaleel and the Chief Minister’s Additional Private Secretary C M Raveendran.

The officer was later transferred to the ED office in Srinagar. Though he challenged the transfer before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), his plea was dismissed.

The officer is yet to comment on the developments.