Controversies related to the gold smuggling case in Kerala just refuse to die down. The latest in the saga are allegations that Industries Minister and CPI(M) Central Committee member EP Jayarajan’s son Jaison Raj was a friend of gold scam accused Swapna Suresh. 

Some media reports have said that Jaison will soon be questioned over the Life Mission Project. This is a housing project for the poor by the Kerala government which received funds from UAE and Swapna has admitted to receiving commission for the same. The allegation against Jaison is that he acted as an intermediary for the Life Mission Project and helped Swapna Suresh.  There are also allegations that the minister’s son threw a party for Swapna Suresh at a high-end hotel in 2018. A picture of Jaison with Swapna has been shared on the internet. 

The Chief Minister and CPI(M) have brushed aside these allegations and have called them half-baked theories by the Opposition to target the party as elections are slated to be held in 2021. 

Meanwhile, EP Jayarajan’s wife has sent a legal notice to Malayala Manorama and accused the media house of publishing fake news in relation to a bank locker transaction she did on September 10. 

On Monday, Malayala Manorama reported that PK Indira had made a sudden bank locker transaction.

“PK Indira, who retired as senior manager from the Kannur bank of Kerala, breached quarantine to go to the bank. She was on quarantine after giving a sample for the COVID-19 test,” the Manorama report stated.

In a video posted Monday evening, Indira stated that the news was fake and that she wasn’t in quarantine at the time. In a statement, she noted that her son will file a separate complaint against the ‘fake news’ about him. The report, she stated, has defamed her and her family, and has humiliated them. She added that she had gone to the locker to withdraw something that she wanted to gift her grandchild on his/her birthday.