Extending support to CM Raveendran, additional private secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister, who has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate probing the gold smuggling case, CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that he was not worried and that the party trusts him.
Raveendran has been summoned to the ED office in Kochi on Friday reportedly in connection with some statements by suspended IAS officer M Sivasankar who is already arrested in the gold smuggling case. This is the second person in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) who has come under the scanner of investigation agencies probing the controversial gold smuggling case.
Pinarayi Vijayan has maintained that he is not worried, stating that he has known CM Raveendran for years. “We are not worried. The probe agencies might have called him for some information. He is a known person to me. He has worked in various positions with the party and the previous Left government, and we all trust him. Summoning by a probe agency does not make him a culprit," CM said.
However, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Ramesh Chennithala has stated that his allegations have come true as a second person in the CMO has been summoned by ED. “Now that the probe has reached the additional private secretary, the chief minister is worried. All this proves that the opposition allegations were right," Chennithala said at a press conference.
But the CM hit out at the opposition stating that it is trying to undermine the LDF government’s efforts to complete developmental projects in the state. "They are trying to sabotage K-FON (Kerala Fibre Optic Network), an important project to ensure that there is no digital divide in Kerala society. The opposition is creating a smokescreen and persons with vested interests are trying to raise doubts in the civil society. Based on all these, they are also trying to sabotage the governance of the state," Pinarayi said.
He said the state government was not interested in controversies but in the developmental activities for the people. "No one can stop us from fulfilling the responsibilities we have taken up. This is an assurance we have given to the people of Kerala. We will fulfil the task entrusted to us by the people," he added.