Dramatic scenes across Kerala after smuggling allegations against CM

A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was implicated in the gold smuggling case by key accused Swapna Suresh, several incidents related to the case occurred in the state—primarily, another accused in the case, Sarith P S, being “forcibly” taken into custody on Wednesday, and MLA K T Jaleel filing a complaint against Suresh.

A police team allegedly took in the first accused in the gold smuggling case forcefully, and interrogated why Suresh had raised such allegations against the CM. Separately, Jaleel, the former minister and LDF MLA, lodged a police complaint, accusing Suresh of conspiring to defame the government.

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Sarith and Suresh are two of the main accused in the gold and currency smuggling case involving employees of the Thiruvananthapuram UAE consulate.

Meanwhile, the state cabinet decided to extend the term of the Justice V K Mohan-led judicial commission, appointed to investigate the alleged conspiracy by central agencies against the Kerala government, in connection with the said smuggling case, by six more months.

There were also protests across the state by the Congress-led United Democratic Front demanding the Chief Minister’s resignation. Protesters burnt the chief minister’s effigies at some places, while at others symbolic biryani vessels were also carried around, in light of Suresh’s implied allegations that the vessels carried smuggled items. Suresh had said on Tuesday that biryani vessels—suspected to have contained items other than just biryani—were frequently sent to the Chief Minister's residence from the UAE consul general's residence in Thiruvananthapuram.

Earlier reports suggested that Sarith was taken into custody from a flat in Palakkad on Wednesday morning by (police?) officials in civilian clothes. Later, it was reported that vigilance officials held him in custody in connection with a vigilance office investigation into a UAE agency-sponsored housing project in Kerala.

Suresh, however, alleged that action against Sarith was taken in retaliation to her statements against the Chief Minister.

Sarith was released later, and he told reporters that the officials took him by force from the flat, and that they only asked him why Suresh was making allegations against the Chief Minister. He also alleged that his phone was seized by the officials.

The CPM alleged that Suresh’s fresh allegations were part of a conspiracy involving former MLA P C George, who was recently held for hate speech cases. Others speculated that Jaleel filing the complaint and the judicial commission’s term extension were alleged attempts by the LDF government to be vindictive towards Suresh.

The Left camp also started a counter-campaign by spreading video footage of a Swapna Suresh interview, in which she said she did not have much connection with the Chief Minister's family. The CPM also maintained that Suresh hadn’t raised any allegations against Pinarayi or his family earlier.