'Kerala gold smuggling and Bengaluru drug ring interlinked'

Congress party on Friday asserted that the Kerala gold smuggling case and the Bengaluru drug row are intertwined with each other. Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, when confronted with this revelation, had brushed aside the queries.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress Party on Friday said that the controversial gold smuggling case and the recently busted Bengaluru drug mafia have close links.

What's even more surprising is the revelation by Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of CPI-M state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, that he knows one of those arrested in the narcotics case, it added.

Speaking to the media, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said Balakrishnan has to break his silence. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, when confronted with this revelation, had brushed aside the queries, said Chennithala.

"Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case managed to escape from Kerala and reached Bengaluru. The drug mafia which was recently busted also operated from there. From what has come out now, it's very clear that there are close links between these two cases. The son of Balakrishnan himself had revealed that he knew one of the arrested -- Anoop Mohammed in the drug case and this is a shocking revelation," said Chennithala.

"What's the relation that Balakrishnan's son has with all this. Moreover, his silence is baffling. He has to break his silence. All sorts of cases which have links with the Vijayan government are floating around," added the Congress leader.

Chennithala pointed out that news has surfaced and been confirmed about a night party at a resort in Kumarakom during the Covid lockdown.

Though Bineesh has denied such a party taking place, after his picture was posted on the social media, he said that it was taken long back and he had not visited Kumarakom recently.

"We recently read about the police taking action against those people who took part in a night party at Idukki. Why is the Vijayan government not probing the Kumarakom night party. We demand that the police should probe this night party," said Chennithala.

IANS report