Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Monday demanded that the government inquire into the allegation that gold smugglers had used the State’s high-tech and IT@School school modernisation programmes as a cover for their operations.
In a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Mr. Chennithala said media reports suggested the government had contracted a UAE gold smuggling case accused to distribute the digital devices to modernise school education.
Mr. Chennithala said the main accused in the case, K.T. Rameez, had mobilised funds for bankrolling the smuggling operation from the government contract.
Mr. Rameez, according to Customs court filings, was one of the lynchpins of the racket. He was allegedly responsible for using hawala networks to transfer funds to Dubai for purchase of gold.
The accused was also allegedly responsible for the sale of the gold smuggled into Kerala in air freight addressed to individual officials at the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.
Government criticised
Mr. Chennithala said the LDF government had repeatedly used significant projects as an avenue of corruption. LIFE Mission was one. Sprinklr deal was another. The government owed the public an explanation. It should release the records regarding the purchase of digital devices for the Education Department’s school modernisation programme immediately to clear the air.
