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Fire breaks out at Kerala Secretariat, Oppn alleges conspiracy to destroy gold smuggling case evidence
The fire was brought under control but many files are reported to have been destroyed which has led to several Opposition leaders suspecting foul play.
A fire broke out at the Kerala Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday which the Opposition called “a conspiracy to destroy evidence related to the gold smuggling case.”
The leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a sit-in protest before the secretariat against the government.
BJP state president K Surendran was arrested from the spot following the protest. “Democracy has been slaughtered,” he said before the arrest. The protesting leaders of his party have demanded a forensic examination of the fire affected areas.
The fire was brought under control but many files are reported to have been destroyed which has led to several Opposition leaders suspecting foul play.
P Hani, additional secretary of the general administration department, said that a short circuit resulted in the fire that damaged the office of the protocol officer probing the gold smuggling case.
Kerala BJP president K Surendran alleged it was a “well-planned sabotage and an attempt to hide the involvement of ministers in the gold smuggling case”.
Amid allegations that a group of officers waited to begin efforts to douse the fire till the fire force personnel arrived, the Congress and BJP have demanded a high-level probe into the matter.
Chief secretary Viswas Mehta reached the spot and has assured of a detailed inquiry into the incident.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has alleged that the fire was part of a conspiracy to tamper with evidence and has sought a detailed enquiry into the incident.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the gold smuggling case had sought the CCTV visuals of the last one year but the government is yet to submit it.
