THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On a day the state witnessed several protest marches seeking the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan whose name was dragged into the gold smuggling and dollar smuggling cases by prime accused Swapna Suresh, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan demanded that the central agencies register a case against him.
“The CM had earlier ensured that a con woman gave a written complaint against former chief minister Oommen Chandy. Can there be different scale of justice for Oommen Chandy and Pinarayi?” V D Satheesan asked while speaking to reporters in Kollam. He said the UDF would explore the possibility of initiating legal action based on Swapna’s new revelations against the CM and his family.
“Swapna’s revelations now were made earlier too, but these were not investigated then after a compromise was reached between the Sangh Parivar forces and the CPM leadership with the help of intermediaries. Many BJP leaders in Kerala act as mediators in the gold smuggling case,” said Satheesan.
State Congress president K Sudhakaran said the police action against P S Sarith, accomplice of Swapna Suresh and co-accused in the gold smuggling case, soon after Swapna’s revelations was dubious. “The government and the CM are trying to hide something. The CM should face law by stopping the misuse of power,” Sudhakaran said in a statement.
In Kannur, the Muslim Youth League’s collectorate march demanding the CM’s resignation turned violent. Five Youth League workers were injured in the scuffle with the police after the protesters tried to go past the barricades. The injured are MYL’s Irshad Pallipram, Ashkar Kannadipparamba, P C Nazeer, Shamseer Mayyil and Safwan.
In Kottayam, a march taken out by Youth Congress members to the district collectorate also turned violent. The march, which began from Gandhi Square around noon, was blocked by the police using barricades near the collectorate. However, some protesters entered the collectorate premises by jumping over the compound wall of the district panchayat office adjacent to it.
A few workers led by Youth Congress district president Chintu Kurien Joy also jumped over the compound wall of the collectorate and raised slogans in the portico of the building. As the police charged to disperse them, 10 YC workers including Chintu, district panchayat member P K Vysakh, Jobin Jacob and Tom Korah Ancheril got injured. In Thiruvananthapuram, the police used water canons to disperse Mahila Morcha and Yuva Morcha workers who marched to the secretariat seeking the resignation of CM.
(With inputs from Kannur and Kottayam bureaus)