Pinarayi seeks PM's intervention to rein in probe agencies
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Thiruvananthapuram: Expressing strong disapproval over the manner in which national probe agencies are dealing with the gold smuggling case, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's urgent intervention into the matter.
Offended due to the course of the probe, Pinarayi Vijayan had lashed out against the Centre, earlier this month, and had said that his government's displeasure will be conveyed to Modi soon.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, which came a day after the ruling Left Democratic Front bucked the anti-incumbency trend to retain the edge in the civic polls that it had in 2015, he sought Modi's intervention to rein in the agencies, which, he said, are going in the wrong direction and have caused lot of heartburn for committed state government officials who feel they are being hunted.
"It now appears these agencies are on a fault-finding mission on a few social projects which will bring solace to the people of Kerala. We have no issues with the probe, but what we oppose is the manner in which it is going forward, as they are crossing all the accepted norms," Vijayan said.
"The problem is that when such an unprofessional probe takes place, the credibility of these national probe agencies gets seriously eroded and we seek your intervention in this regard," he added.
"It has also now surfaced that even before the person who is asked to appear before the agency knows it, the media comes to know and it has even come out that statements given by people before magistrates are flashed in the media," Vijayan said.
"It has been five months this case surfaced and so far there is no clue of who has sent this gold and who was the final recipient. Likewise some accused and suspects continue to be abroad, but no action has been taken... instead what's happening is that attempts to shame the government are going forward," he said.
Vijayan, who sought to remind the PM that it was he who had written to him seeking a probe by any national agency when the gold smuggling case surfaced in July, noted that when he came to know that his own secretary had links with the prime accused in the case, he removed the official from his post and subsequently suspended from service.