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Congress links Kerala chief minister to gold smuggling
Congress MLA PT Thomas claimed Vijayan was aware of the activities of his former principal secretary M Sivasankar, who was arrested three months back in connection with the gold recovery at the Thiruvananthapuram airport
Congress lawmaker PT Thomas on Thursday targeted Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the recovery of 30 kg of gold smuggled into India in baggage addressed to the UAE consulate last year, saying he cannot get away by sacrificing some of his officials. He called Vijayan the “main accused” in the case. Thomas claimed Vijayan was aware of the activities of his former principal secretary M Sivasankar, who was arrested three months back in connection with the recovery at the Thiruvananthapuram airport of the gold hidden inside the bathroom fittings.
“How can a chief minister who supported the smuggling activities be called a Communist and continue in power? The arrested secretary even said if he approaches the chief minister with a tissue paper, he will sign on it in seconds. They were so close and how can he wash off his hands now?” asked Thomas while introducing an adjournment motion over the matter in the state assembly. He accused Vijayan of turning a blind to the matter as the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) members tried to shout him down with counter-allegations.
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Thomas claimed Swapna Suresh, the main accused in the case, was threatened in jail “not to take big names.” He added Vijayan was aware of Sivasankar’s foreign trips with Suresh. Thomas said initially Vijayan gave “a good certificate” to the probe agencies but turned against them after they summoned his close aide C M Raveendran.
Thomas said after he questioned an IT company owned by Vijayan’s daughter, Veena, the site of the Bengaluru-based firm disappeared.
Vijayan rubbished the charges saying the government took immediate action after the case came to light. He added he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a central agency probe into the case. Vijayan said some opposition members were unnecessarily blaming him and spreading “loads of canards”.
“We sacked the secretary immediately... We want to get to the bottom of the smuggling. So, we asked for a central agency probe. I criticised them when they deviated from their path. Now they are in a race to portray the government in a bad light but they will never succeed because people are with us.”
Vijayan wondered whether opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala agreed with the repeated charge of the Congress leadership that the Centre was using central agencies to target opposition leaders. He cited cases against Congress leaders including P Chidambaram to make his point.
After a two-hour discussion, opposition members stormed out of the House as Speaker P Sivaramakrishnan denied permission for the adjournment motion.
