Fire at Kerala Secretariat complex, opposition alleges ‘gold smuggling case evidence destroyed’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A minor fire broke out at the government secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday evening that led to major political controversy with the BJP and Congress alleging foul play in the incident. The fire, apparently from an electrical short circuit, broke out in the sensitive general administration department (political) section that handles many sensitive files including the ones relating to the UAE consulate, which is currently in the thick of controversies in connection with the gold smuggling case.
The sensitive GAD (political) section is situated in the north sandwich block of the secretariat, in the floor where water resources minister K Krishnankutty’s office is also located. It is learnt that some of the files dealing with allocation in the government guest houses, and bundles of government orders are among those that have been burnt in the fire. The fire broke around 4.30pm. However, government sources said that though it is yet to be ascertained which all physical files have been burnt, all the sensitive files are safe. Moreover, since the secretariat has been migrated to an e-file system in which electronic files are also maintained along with physical files, even those which are lost can be retrieved.
None of the officials were present in the section on Tuesday, after one of the senior officials of the department who sits close to the section was tested positive for Covid-19. Since all the officials in the section were his primary contacts, the approximately 10 officials in the section and also those in the tourism department section next to the GAD (political) section were asked to go on quarantine.
“A couple of days ago, one of the fans installed in the section was found to be faulty, and though it was repaired, it still had some problems. The spark apparently erupted from the electrical connection to the fan that quickly spread on to the files kept nearby,” sources said. The fire and rescue team from the station nearby the secretariat quickly swung into action and doused the fire. The section handles all the sensitive matters relating to protocol, that includes the dealings with the foreign missions and with the Centre on certain matters. The protocol section handles all the programs during the visit of foreign dignitaries, dignities from the Centre including the President and the Prime Minister.
The National Investigation Agency that is probing whether the key accused in the gold smuggling case Swapna Suresh had close connections with anyone else in the state government other than M Sivasankar, had sought for the video footage of CCTVs from the GAD. Also, customs had recently sought the details from the state protocol officer regarding the number of times that diplomatic parcels have been received in the state in the last two years, in connection with the gold smuggling probe.
After the news broke out, the BJP and Congress leaders rushed to the spot. BJP state president K Surendran said that the fire was an organised attempt to sabotage the probe into the gold smuggling case, and said that there are high chances that several sensitive files may disappear under the cover of fire. He demanded that the ministry of home affairs and NIA should probe the incident. He was later arrested by the police and removed from the spot after he tried to visit the spot of fire. Local MLA V S Sivakumar, who also rushed to the spot, demanded that he be allowed to enter inside the secretariat to take a look at the damage. Though the police refused to allow him inside initially, he was allowed to visit the premises later. Police used water cannons to disperse the protesting BJP and Congress workers. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala sought an inquiry into the matter and said that it is a deliberate attempt to destroy the evidence in the gold smuggling case, with the knowledge of the chief minister. Chennithala said that the NIA probe should cover this incident as well. Meanwhile, the government has handed over the probe regarding the incident to the district crime branch.
Meanwhile, the government has constituted a committee headed by disaster management commissioner A Kowsigan to conduct an inquiry into the technical causes that led to the incident. The committee also consists of disaster management authority member secretary Sekhar Kuriakose, director (technical) fire and rescue services Noushad, chief electrical engineer in-charge of PWD Koshy John, and chief electrical inspector, power department Anilkumar. In addition to probing the causes of fire, the committee will also probe if there is any evidence to indicate whether it is a sabotage and which all physical files have been destroyed.