Kerala Opposition leader says CMO involved in gold smuggling case

Ramesh Chennithala from the Congress said Koduvally MLA Karat Rasak’s involvement in the case has also been discovered and the Chief Minister has no moral authority to continue in the post .

Kerala opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday alleged that evidence from the gold smuggling probe by investigative agencies pointed out that the Kerala Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) had been used by former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar for gold smuggling and hawala transactions.

Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala in a protest march before the state secretariat demanding the resignation of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. (PTI Photo. Representational Image)

“The WhatsApp chats that came out of Sivasankar with his Chartered Accountant are shocking. The chats revealed the hand of the former Principal Secretary. After Kerala CMO’s close connection of Ministers KT Jaleel and Kadakampally Surendran came out and both Ministers visited the UAE consulate many times. They should make clear why they visited a foreign consulate,” he said.

The Congress leader said now Koduvally Left MLA Karat Rasak’s involvement has come out and it is a serious matter.

“The involvement of more and more CPI(M) leaders are being revealed. Sivasankar was the kingpin in the gold smuggling. Now, it has come to light that he was using Kerala CMO to help the gold smuggling accused. Pinarayi Vijayan has no moral authority to continue in the post,” he said.

Regarding the Walayar case, Chennithala said, “I had visited the house in Walayar where the mother of the Dalit sisters, who were sexually assaulted and killed are protesting. Till now, the SC/ST Minister AK Balan has not even visited the family. This government has failed to give justice to the family.”