THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Opposition on Wednesday tried to corner the state government over the alleged accidental death of KC Rameez, a native of Kannur and friend of Arjun Ayanki, key accused in the Ramanattukara gold smuggling case.
Moving an adjournment motion in the assembly, Congress legislator Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said there were clandestine attempts right from the beginning to sabotage the Ramanattukara gold heist case and the accidental death of Rameez was a cause of concern in the light of attempts from some quarters to end the investigation in the case halfway.
There were attempts to sabotage the case by destroying the evidence and the Opposition suspects that his death was one such attempt, he said.
While replying to the allegation, the Chief Minister said the investigation into the case is progressing and the state government has taken strong measures regarding law and order issues. In the case of smuggling through the airport, the Customs is the agency to take action and the control of airports is vested with central agencies.
“The state police are involved in maintaining law and order issues. Thiruvanchoor, who moved the notice for the motion, knows all these facts very well, but he is cleverly trying to create an impression that everything has gone for a toss to get political mileage,” the CM said.
Stating that no one involved in any kind of criminal case would be spared, the Chief Minister said the death of the person of interest was purely accidental as his bike had hit a car from behind which resulted in his death.
Intervening in the discussion, Opposition leader V D Satheeshan wondered if the driver of the car swerved its direction to one side suddenly with the motive of hitting the bike that trailed behind it.
There is a state sponsored criminal gang in the state which is involved in various kinds of illegal activities including smuggling and ‘Pottikkal’ (waylaying of contraband couriers). The Chief Minister and his party are giving a heroic image to these gangs, he said.
Brushing aside all their allegations, the Chief Minister said the Opposition is trying to whip up the case by levelling fresh political allegations in the face of a shortage of subjects to discuss in the assembly. Later, the Opposition walked out of the assembly when the Speaker denied leave for the adjournment motion.