The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will observe August 26 as “black day” and “protest day” respectively to spotlight the “government-sponsored” fire at the Secretariat on Tuesday.
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala called on Governor Arif Muhammad Khan and expressed his apprehensions. Mr. Chennithala said the fire had consumed crucial files sought by Central agencies in connection with their probe into the UAE consulate-linked gold smuggling case.
The multiple investigations had targeted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former Principal Secretary M. Sivasankar and his long-time associate and now second accused in the gold smuggling case Swapna Suresh. The inquiries had cast a pall of suspicion over the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), he said.
The BJP will hold protest meetings across the State to highlight the “subversive act.” The police used water cannons to disperse Yuva Morcha workers who burned the effigy of Mr. Vijayan in front of the Secretariat.
The State government had accused the Congress and the BJP of having attempted to unleash violence and anarchy at the Secretariat.
Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan told journalists that BJP State president K. Surendran had arrived at the Secretariat as if on a cue soon after the fire broke out. It pointed to a plot to tarnish the government.
Minister for Tourism and Cooperation Kadakampally Surendran told news channels that the government had already given the files and video footage sought by the NIA. The records lost in the fire were those pertaining to the booking of rooms in government guest houses via the General Administration Department (GAD). They had back-ups on the computer. Government files were almost entirely digitised.
A special team headed by Additional Director General of Police Manoj Abraham would investigate the fire. A panel of the experts from the Fire and Rescue Services Department and the Kerala Disaster Management Authority would assist him.
