Gold smuggling case: Youth Congress leaders held for protesting against Kerala CM on a flight
Jun 13, 2022
New Delhi [India], June 13 : Two Youth Congress leaders in black shirts on board a private airline raised slogans in connection with the gold smuggling case against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who was also on the same flight on Monday.
The chief minister was travelling from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram on the same IndiGo Airlines flight.
The airport officials later detained the two youth leaders and handed them over to the airport police.
"Incident happened at around 5 PM when the two passengers raised anti-CM slogans while on board," an airport official told ANI.
A viral video shows a man pushing protesters on the flight to save chief minister Vijayan. Two Youth Congress leaders can be seen sitting in front of the steps of the plane where several passengers are seen coming out.
The incident was later reported to the aviation regulatory body of the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for investigation.
The Kerala Gold Smuggling Case pertains to the smuggling of gold in the state through diplomatic channels. It had come to light after 30 kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crore was smuggled in a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by the customs department in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5, 2019.
However, the prime accused Swapna Suresh alleged that in 2016, M Sivasankar, the former Principal Secretary to the Kerala CM, had asked her to send the baggage to Dubai which belonged to Vijayan. However, when the bag was brought to the consulate, it was found that it contained currencies and the entire gold smuggling business had begun from then.
Recently on Saturday, the state police had registered a case against her lawyer Krishna Raj under the section 295A of Indian Penal Code (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) over a social media post against a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus driver who was allegedly in a Muslim religious dress.
