Chief Minister’s involvement in gold smuggling; Sensation of the accused’s reply, demand for resignation of the opposition

News Agency, Kochi: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his wife, daughter and two colleagues; Swapna Suresh, accused in the case, has also told the magistrate that a cabinet minister was involved in gold smuggling. Opposition groups called for Vijayan’s resignation.

Swapna Suresh gave this information to the journalists. I have filed a reply before the Magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Code. Chief Minister Vijayan, his wife Kamala, daughter Veena, former chief secretary Nalini Netto, Vijayan’s additional private secretary c. M. Rabindran and former Education Minister MLA K. T. Jalil’s name is mentioned in it. The case started in 2016 when Vijayan first visited the United Arab Emirates.

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Vijayan’s then Principal Secretary M. Shivshankar instructed me to prepare for his visit. The next day I got a call from Shivshankar and he forgot Vijayan his bag. She instructed him to send the bag immediately. Accordingly, I handed over the bag to the Emirati office. When the bag was scanned there, it was found to be full of notes. After that, biryani was often sent from the residence of the emirate’s trade representatives to Vijayan’s residence. It often contained metal-like objects. I have informed the Central Investigation Agency that this happened as per the instructions of Shivshankar, ‘informed Suresh.

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Shivshankar, meanwhile, said Swapna Suresh’s allegations were baseless, while Nalini Netto declined to comment.