Gold smuggling case: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan rejects UDF demand for CBI probe

The CM, while responding to a submission by Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan in the Assembly, said that as the case was Centre’s subject, the state cannot make any request about which government agency should probe it.

“The state government can not say which agency should probe the gold smuggling case as it is not a state subject. There is no need for the state government to take up that responsibility,” he said.

The Enforcement Directorate, NIA and Customs are currently probing the case.

Launching a broadside at the Centre, Vijayan also said that CBI was being misused by the Modi government in various cases across the country.

Meanwhile, UDF members raised slogans against the CM in the Assembly, saying that the Left government was scared of a probe by the CBI.

Vijayan has been in the eye of the storm since a prime accused, Swapna Suresh — a former UAE consulate and marketing liaison officer of the state’s Space Park — levelled serious allegations against him, his family members and some top bureaucrats in relation to the case.

The row erupted after Thiruvananthapuram’s Air Customs seized a diplomatic bag meant for the UAE consulate and found 30 kg gold worth Rs 13.5 crore hidden in pipes, door locks and other items meant for the consulate.