Fire at Kerala Secretariat: MoS MEA alleges attempt to bury gold smuggling case evidence

On Tuesday, MoS MEA V Muraleedharan alleged foul play in the fire which broke out at the Kerala Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram at around 4.30 pm. Hinting that the fire was not a coincidence, he claimed that it was an excuse to bury the evidence in the gold smuggling case. According to him, documents that could expose the role of Vijayan and his associates had been gutted in the fire. Muraleedharan demanded a thorough investigation to ascertain the claim that the fire was caused due to a short circuit.

Read: Probe Has To Be Conducted Abroad To Unearth All Conspirators In Gold Smuggling Case: NIA Tells Court

Fire breaks out at Kerala Secretariat

Earlier in the day, a fire was reported in the General Administrative Department (political) section of the Secretariat. This section handles many sensitive files including the ones related to the UAE Consulate, Swapna Suresh, and suspended bureaucrat M Sivasankar. The fire which was first detected in one of the computers soon engulfed a portion of the office. 

In a fortunate development, only two employees were present in the office due to COVID-19 related restrictions. Within a span of 15 minutes, the fire was doused with the help of the Fire and Rescue Department. As per reports, no major files barring for those pertaining to the booking of the guest house rooms have been destroyed in the fire. 

Read: Kerala Gold Smuggling: NIA Taking Steps To Issue Interpol's Blue Notices Against Accused

What is the gold smuggling case? 

On July 5, Customs officials seized 30 kg of gold worth Rs.15 crore at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport from a diplomatic cargo addressed to a person in the UAE Consulate. Sarith Kumar, who worked at the UAE Consulate was arrested in this regard. Reportedly, he told the Customs about the role of Swapna Suresh, an ex-Consulate employee now working as the manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited. Following the backlash over her appointment, she was sacked by the state government.

The NIA has already filed an FIR against Sarith Kumar, Swapna Suresh, Fazil Fareed, Sandeep Nair, and others. Various sections of the UAPA were slapped against the aforesaid individuals. The NIA has alleged that the smuggled gold was not used for jewellery purpose but for funding terror activities. Meanwhile, the ED registered a money laundering case in the Kerala gold smuggling scandal on July 23. The central agency is likely to probe if proceeds of crime were generated by the accused for the laundering of funds that were earned through the gold smuggling racket. 

Read: Kerala Gold Smuggling: Principal Sessions Court Rejects Accused Swapna Suresh's Bail Plea