Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan: Central agencies acting according to a script
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said: "The central investigation agencies started a probe in the gold smuggling case but they are acting in a prejudiced manner to corner only specific people. Instead of leading a probe, the central investigation agencies are violating the federal system & are evaluating & scrutinising state govt projects. Central agencies shouldn't be part of any political agenda."
FollowKerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has alleged that professionalism of central probe agencies is being sabotaged.
The claim comes on the heels of reports that the Enforcement Directorate has expanded its probe against Chief Minister's former principal secretary M Sivasankar and would scrutinise various major infrastructure projects of Kerala government.
Among the projects that are believed to under ED scanner include the Rs 1500 crore Kerala Fibre Optic Network project that aims to provide last-mile fibre connectivity and free high-speed internet to 20 lakh economically weak families, the Rs 4,500 crore e-mobility project that aims at rolling out 10 lakh electric vehicles by 2022, the DownTown IT/ITES infrastructure and township project attached to Technopark Phase-III campus in Thiruvananthapuram and the SmartCity Kochi project.
Addressing media persons, Pinarayi Vijayan said: "The central investigation agencies started a probe in the gold smuggling case but they are acting in a prejudiced manner to corner only specific people. Instead of leading a probe, the central investigation agencies are violating the federal system & are evaluating & scrutinising state govt projects. Central agencies shouldn't be part of any political agenda."
"Professionalism of probe agencies is being sabotaged. There was legitimate expectation that when the state government asked for probe by central agencies. Now, it seems they are acting according to a script. Secretive nature of probe compromised for selective leakage of details to media," the chief minister said.
The opposition, meanwhile, has intensified its attack on the state government and demanded the Chief Minister's resignation.
While the BJP claimed that the government is just aiming at charging commission and bribes from all major projects, Opposition United Democratic Front alleged that the Chief Minister's Office had emerged as a "benami of smugglers".
