Kerala gold smuggling case: Protest against Pinarayi Vijayan inside Kannur-Thiruvananthapuram flight

Two purported Youth Congress activists Monday sloganeered against Kerala Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, asking him to resign, in a flight. The duo was pushed by a masked LDF convener.

As per Manorama TV, the duo later staged a sit-in protest at the airport premises after the flight landed.

Prime accused in Kerala Gold Smuggling Case Swapna Suresh on Monday filed a petition in the Kerala High Court seeking to quash the case registered against her by the police on the provocation charges to cause a riot and criminal conspiracy, ANI reported.

The said case of criminal conspiracy was registered against her on the complaint filed by MLA and former Kerala minister KT Jaleel on Wednesday (8 June). In the petition, she accused Kerala chief minister and his family of involvement in several anti-social and anti-national activities involving the UAE Consulate.

"Several persons who are the higher-ups in the administration including the present Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his wife Kamala, his daughter Veena, MLA and ex-minister KT Jaleel, former Speaker of the Kerala Assembly P Sreeramakrishnan, IAS Nalini Netto and Sivasankar, and several others are involved in several anti-social and anti-national activities involving the Consulate," the petition read.

"She has been cleverly used by these persons in collusion with the Consulate General of UAE Consulate using its diplomatic protection," it added.

As per ANI, the petition, moved by her advocate Krishna Raj, further stated, "the complaint lodged against Swapna Suresh is false, malicious and unsustainable. Another prime accused, PS Sarith, was kidnapped by four persons from his house using brutal force in which he sustained injuries. Subsequently, he came to know that they were the police officers of the Palakkad unit of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. He was informed that he was being taken into custody for questioning in the case related to Life Mission, but all they asked him was regarding the force behind Swapna Suresh giving the 164 statement. He was released by noon after which he had to undergo treatment."

Notably, the gold smuggling case came to light after 30 kg of gold concealed in diplomatic baggage was seized at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport here by the Customs Department on 5 July 2020.

BJP and Congress workers waved black flags at the Chief Minister at a couple of places in the state. Following this, it was decided that a 40-member security team will accompany the Chief Minister while travelling. There will be five personnel in one pilot vehicle, 10 in two commando vehicles and eight in the quick response team. Apart from these, one pilot and escort have also been deployed. This is in addition to the security provided to the events attended by the chief minister, ANI reported.

The security for the chief minister and ministers has been tightened after protests broke out in the last few days.

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