The Congress-led opposition in Kerala has demanded a CBI probe into the gold smuggling case on Thursday, June 30, a day after the prime accused Swapna Suresh alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was lying in the Assembly. While interacting with the media, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said the way Pinarayi handed over the solar scam case to the CBI, he should assign the gold smuggling case to the CBI too.
Swapna recently told the media that Chief Minister Pinarayi who refused to acknowledge her in the beginning, later changed his version and said that she had visited his official residence along with UAE diplomats. "Let me tell you, I have gone to his official residence several times with UAE officials and also alone. I was allowed to walk into his residence and his office in the Secretariat without any security issues. I challenge him to release the CCTV visuals between 2016 and 2020 of his official residence and office in the Secretariat," she alleged.
Demanding CCTV visuals, Satheesan said, "When Vijayan as the CPI(M) state secretary in 2013 demanded the CCTV visuals (when allegations surfaced against Oommen Chandy in the solar scam), now we demand the same and challenge him to come out with the visuals of his office and official residence."
"We demand that the case be handed over to the CBI," he added.
Satheesan also pointed out that the opposition will now move a privilege motion against Pinarayi for allegedly lying in the Assembly to questions raised by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan.
In the Assembly on Tuesday, Vijayan said Swapna is a person who is an accused in gold smuggling and other cases and the Congress-led Opposition is treating her words as the ultimate truth and using them here. He also referred to her as someone who is now being guided by Sangh Parivar forces.
Swapna early this month testified before a magistrate under Section 164 (5) where she claimed that Pinarayi and his wife and their daughter Veena had smuggled currency to the UAE.
On Wednesday, she said it was she who had facilitated numerous meetings with the UAE Consul General at the Chief Minister's residence which was against all protocol as permission was not taken from the Ministry of External Affairs.
"With regard to carrying currency in his luggage from here to the UAE, he used the diplomatic channel because here, given his position he can get through Customs and everything without any issues, but he wanted diplomatic immunity in the UAE and it was facilitated by us," said Swapna.