Thiruvananthapuram, July 22 A Congress leader in Kerala on Wednesday wondered why Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was blaming the party for his own political problems regarding coronavirus and gold smuggling case and accused him of trying to destroy evidence in the gold racket.
"Do not know what has happened to him. It's understandable that he has come a cropper on two counts; all the applause that his government got for tackling Covid-19 has disappeared after he admitted to community spread in two coastal hamlets here. Then came the gold smuggling case, in which eight government officials are under the scanner. Fail to understand what have we done in the corona spread and the gold case," Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media.
"We now hear the Chief Secretary has ordered on July 13 that all CCTVs at the state Secretariat will be changed after a lighting strike. No one knows when the lighting struck. We have to caution the NIA that Vijayan is trying his best to destroy all evidence by getting changed all the CCTVs that have captured lots of things, which they don't want to come out," claimed Chennithala.
Chennithala said those under the cloud in the gold smuggling case include IAS officer M. Sivasankar (since suspended), Swapna Suresh, Assembly Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan, State Minister for Higher Education K.T. Jaleel and his personal assistant and security officer.
He said more information has surfaced on numerous appointments made through the back door by Vijayan via state-run agency KINFRA, which had entrusted the task to an agency named Mint.
"None has a clue about Mint and its locus standi in the matter. We now demand the Chief Secretary to release a list of all appointments made through Mint. Vijayan is now attacking us because we are asking him hard questions. He knows that he has been a big failure in governing the state and that can be seen from how Covid-19 is spreading," the Congress leader remarked.
Lok Sabha member and RSP leader N.K. Premachandran demanded the removal of Kerala Police chief Loknath Behra who allegedly was doing everything possible to mar the ongoing probe in the gold smuggling case.
"Vijayan will go down as the most corrupt Chief Minister the state has seen," said former Minister and RSP leader Shibhu Baby John.
( With inputs from IANS )