The Kerala Police on Saturday used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the Youth Congress workers who protested outside the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. The protesting workers also demanded the resignation of Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan in the 2020 Kerala gold smuggling case.
According to the reports, the workers of the Youth Congress marched to the state Secretariat demanding the resignation of CM Vijayan. The Police used water cannons as some of the protesters tried to enter the north gate of the Secretariat.
#WATCH | Police use water cannons to disperse Youth Congress workers who are protesting outside Secretariat in Thiruvanathapuram demanding resignation of Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan in a gold smuggling case pic.twitter.com/71bfZJ20Tl
— ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2022
The protests turned violent after the protesting workers pelted stones at the Police officers and tried to get past the barricades posted in the area. The Police then resorted to lathi-charge and dispersed the violent crowd in order to maintain peace.
Reportedly, around 300 Youth Congress workers participated in the protests against CM Pinarayi Vijayan in the 2020 case of gold smuggling that was executed through diplomatic baggage to the UAE Consulate. The Congress wing has been staging a protest in Thiruvananthapuram and several other parts of Kerala after Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case made crucial claims against CM Vijayan.
Swapna Suresh names CM Pinarayi Vijayan in Kerala Gold Smuggling Case
Suresh on Tuesday revealed that she was called by Sivasankar, the Principal Secretary of CM Vijayan, during his visit to Dubai back in 2016. “Sivasankar told me that the CM had forgotten to carry a bag, which needed to be taken to Dubai. When the bag was brought to the consulate (in Thiruvananthapuram), we scanned it and realized that it contained currency. I cannot reveal everything about my statement before the court,” she was quoted.
She added that utensils used to cook ‘biryani’ were sent to the CM’s residence. She stated that Biryani is edible, and food item has a minimum weight but the vessels that were delivered without any security check had unusual weight. Suresh meanwhile also alleged that CM Vijayan’s wife Kamala, daughter Veena and other top aides were also involved in the case.
However, senior officer M Sivasnakar who was suspended as principal secretary to the CM when the scam first emerged in 2020 stated in his recently launched book named ‘Aswathamavu Verum Oru Aana’, (Ashwathamavu is just an elephant) that Suresh had sought help form the CM, to which he had clearly refused. Suresh had asked the CM to clear the diplomatic baggage cleared from the customs. The bag contained smuggled gold.
On July 5, 2020, customs authorities at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport seized gold weighing more than 30 kg and worth around Rs 15 crore. This gold was hidden in diplomatic luggage and air freighted to the UAE embassy. Customs officers took action after receiving evidence that the luggage was part of a smuggling network attempting to misappropriate the name of a diplomat with diplomatic immunity.
