Thiruvananthapuram: The controversy triggered by a book written by senior Kerala bureaucrat M Sivasankar has given much ammunition to the opposition political parties in Kerala to reignite their allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the sensational diplomatic baggage gold smuggling scam.
Sivasankar, in his recently released autobiography titled Aswathatma Verum Oru Aana (Aswathama is just an elephant), accused Swapna Suresh, one of the prime accused in the smuggling case, of cheating him. In return, a provoked Swapna gave TV interviews in which she levelled serious allegations against Sivasankar who, she said, manipulated her.
Reacting to the controversy, Congress president in Kerala, K Sudhakaran MP, has said the deliberate way in which the central government and the state government hushed up the gold smuggling case has been exposed now.
“If the case had been properly investigated, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would have gone to jail along with Swapna Suresh and Sivasankar”, he said. He also sought a reinvestigation in the gold smuggling case.
"Many revelations made by Swapna pointed an accusing finger at the chief minister. Sivasankar is just an instrument of the chief minister. Who has given the political backing for Sivasankar to publish such a controversial book? The same people, who had taken action against Jacob Thomas IPS and Raju Narayana Swamy IAS for publishing a book, are now laying a protective arm around Sivasankar," he said.
CM's office centre of graft: Satheesan
The latest revelations have established that the chief minister's office was a centre of corruption, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan has said.
He said that things that happened at the CM's office during the time of the first Pinarayi Vijayan Ministry showed the lowest level to which the functioning of an office could stoop. He pointed out that it is now proved that the audio clip of the accused woman saying that the chief minister had no connection with the gold smuggling case was part of a well-planned script. He sought a probe into the making of the audio clip in order to find out where it was made and who were behind such a move.
He said none would believe the argument that the chief minister was not aware about the appointment of a person having no proper qualification in a higher post at the IT department which comes under the CM himself.
Satheesan alleged that it was the chief minister's office which linked the accused woman with the construction company Unitac. The money received as commission from the deal was shared by all, he said.
He further said that the central agencies stopped the investigation in the gold smuggling case on a fine morning as part of the unholy deal struck between the CPM and the BJP before the last Assembly polls.
All the latest revelations are proving correct the charges raised by the opposition earlier, he added.
'BJP'S charges found true'
BJP state president K Surendran said that though the book by Sivasankaran was meant to whitewash the LDF government, the move fizzled out due to the latest revelations by Swapna Suresh. The new revelations have proved right what the BJP had said earlier, he said.
According to Surendran, the fact that Sivasankar was co-custodian of Swapna's bank locker proved that they were joint partners in fraud transactions. He asked the government to immediately remove Sivasankar from the service.
Surendran objected to former Minister KT Jaleel's claim that the latter has proved his innocence with the revelation of Swapna Suresh.
Surendran wanted to know in what capacity Jaleel maintained contacts with the Consulate General. Surendran accused Jaleel of violating the oath taken as a minister in this regard.
Chennithala seeks reinvestigation
Former Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Ramesh Chennithala demanded that there should be reinvestigation in the case in the wake of the revelations of Swapna Suresh against the office of the chief minister.
Sivasankar, who had committed such serious offences, should be suspended from the service immediately, he said.
'Bid to destroy evidence'
Muslim Leage leader MK Muneer MLA has alleged that Sivasankar IAS was brought back to the service to destroy crucial documents in the case by deftly using official power.
He said that both Sivasankar and Swapna had spent so much time in the official corridors of the chief minister's office. So, the CM should decide on the course of investigation to be carried out against both the persons.
