THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At the onset, the case relating to gold smuggling through the diplomatic channel seemed to have all the ingredients required to blow up into a major controversy like the solar scam, which had unsettled the 2011-16 UDF government led by Oommen Chandy.
Big names in the chief minister’s office were linked to the case by investigating officers who tactically leaked vital information to the media. M Sivasankar, who had been acting like a chief executive in the CMO, turned villain from superhero overnight.
Opposition politicians led by UDF’s Ramesh Chennithala and BJP’s K Surendran unleashed an all-out attack against the government. A section of BJP leaders boasted that several people connected with CM Pinarayi Vijayan would land in jail. With the NDA government at the Centre showing an undue interest in the case and deputing senior officers from multiple central agencies for the probe, an impression was created that something was fishy somewhere.
However, Pinarayi who met reporters almost daily for the Covid briefing appeared unmoved. “What all allegations I have faced in the past! People know me. I have no fear as my hands are clean,” he declared.
It was Pinarayi who first sought a probe by central agencies as the gold smuggling case appeared to have serious ramifications with operators from foreign countries appearing to be involved.
However, when the agencies zeroed in on his close associates, he warned them sternly. While Sivasankar did not get any support, Pinarayi openly defended his additional private secretary C M Raveendran.
Former Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel, elected MLA again, was another leader who faced the tough postures of the customs and the NIA boldly. Jaleel, who was summoned by both agencies for questioning in connection with the distribution of Ramzan relief funded by the UAE consulate, declared his innocence through Facebook posts at the time of summons. Later, the agencies too cleared him of charges.
Former Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan was also interrogated, but he was not named in the final reports.The sequence of events turned out to be favourable for the Pinarayi-led LDF during the assembly poll campaign.
ADVANTAGE PINARAYI
The allegations did not fire during the assembly election campaign as, by that time, the inability of the agencies to find convincing evidence against the LDF leaders had come to the public domain.