A fire at the Secretariat assumed a severe political dimension seemingly out of the blue on Tuesday.
None were injured in the blaze. However, initial reports suggested "substantial" loss of official records. The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) immediately termed the incident an act of sabotage.
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, who visited the spot, said the fire had destroyed three sections. It had consumed records relating to foreign trips of Ministers and bureaucrats, their interactions with foreign entities, classified political files and granting of VIP status to persons. The fire had occurred soon after office hours.
The "saboteurs" had destroyed them to hide the role of the office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the UAE consulate linked gold smuggling case.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Customs had sought several files from the General Administration Department (GAD) to probe whether the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) had abetted the smuggling operation.
The agencies had questioned Mr. Vijayan's former Principal Secretary M. Sivasankar several times. The government had stonewalled efforts by the agencies to procure surveillance video footage of the comings and goings at the CMO citing it was destroyed in “thunder in the peak of summer,” he said.
Mr, Chennithala said the NIA should investigate the blaze. The United Democratic Front (UDF) would observe a black day on August 26 to highlight the "subversion."
Dramatic scene
The incident also caused some drama at the Secretariat.
The police arrested BJP workers, including State president K. Surendran, who entered the Secretariat compound in protest. Officers hustled them away in a police van to a nearby station.
The furore caused Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta to come out of his office. He demanded outsiders quit the premises. A firefighter said short circuit could have caused the fire.
P. Honey, Additional Secretary, GAD, said the fire had damaged a few files relating to the requests for rooms in government guest houses. Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan accused the Congress and the BJP of having attempted to unleash violence at the Secretariat.
He said their supporters could have started the fire. Mr. Jayarajan announced a police inquiry into the incident.
