Audio on gold smuggling put Kerala's ruling party in defense

Thiruvananthapuram: A leaked audio clip aired by a Kerala based news channel has revealed that that a quotation gang which tries to loot the gold smuggled into the state has support of a political party.

According to the clip, the gang has also claimed support of two convicts in the murder case of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader TP Chandrasekharan. The audio clip contains the conversation between two people speaking about the way things are happening in the gold smuggling in the state

In the audio clips aired by Mathrubhumi news,CK Vijayan, the quotation gang member reassures carrier who smuggle gold, saying they have the alleged backing of 'the party' and Kodi Sunni and Mohammed Shafi, two convicts in the TP Chandrasekharan murder case. TP Chandrasekharan, a former CPI(M) leader in Onchiyam in Kozhikode, was killed in 2012 after he rebelled from the party and formed the RMP.

CPI(M) leader and Panur area committee member PK Kunhanandan, is another convict in the case charged for criminal conspiracy and murder. Kunhanandan died last year.

The audio also says that one third of the proceeds from each batch of gold smuggled goes to people who ensure that they will have no problems which will arise in the future over the smuggling. According to the clip the proceeds it goes to people close to the party (CPI-M), who takes care of it, reports IANS

Reacting to the revelation, opposition parties - the Congress led UDF and the BJP led NDA, on Tuesday, slammed the CPI-M for shielding alleged gold smugglers.

As the ruling party, CPI-M is in the frying pan after the names of several of its lower-level cadres came in the forefront in the gold smuggling case, and that too in Kannur - the home district of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. V.D. Satheesan, leader of oppostion asked Chief Minister to break his silence on what's being reported regarding the issue.

Satheeshan accussed that CPI-M as the protector of those engaged in gold smuggling.

"It has now surfaced that a good number of those presently engaged in gold smuggling are active workers in the cyber world defending the party and attacking its detractors. What we now see is the weak defence being put up by Kannur CPI-M district secretary M.V. Jayarajan. Vijayan is yet to speak a word on these happenings," said Satheesan.

State BJP president K. Surendran, while speaking at the state committee meeting of the party, said what has come as a shocker is that the CPI-M is the one which shields the smugglers.

Meanwhile, Karippur gold smuggling suspect Arjun Ayanki was arrested by Customs on Tuesday. Ayanki a CPI-M supporter and was the party "Red Volunteer" captain in Kannur. He has huge following in social media and was the "Facebook warrior" of the party, attacking political opponents in the cyber world. However, the party leadership, both at Kannur and the state level, washed their hands off him after the gold smuggling incidents came to light.