Team News Riveting
Thiruvananthapuram, August 27
An order issued by the Chief Protocol Officer, Shine Haq had put the Pinarayi Vijayan government in the dock over the secretariat fire incident.
Haq today ordered to scan all the files in office with immediate effect. “The order endorses that all important files were in papers contrary to the claim of state government that it had been digitalised,” a senior BJP leader said.
BJP State President K Surendran slammed the government stating that it was a deliberate attempt to sabotage evidence and documents pertaining to the high-profile gold smuggling case in Thiruvananthapuram.
The case under National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe had put the Pinarayi government under the scanner following alleged direct involvement of chief minister’s former principal secretary.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had been up in arms against the Pinarayi Vijayan government ever since the high-profile gold smuggling case exposed and now after a fire broke out at the Secretariat on Tuesday evening.
Talking to a news agency, he said, “This is sabotage. It is an act to hide files related to gold smuggling. This includes files related to Embassies, Consulates, Raj Bhavan, guest house booking and protocol.”
Those are all paper files. The Home Secretary, Revenue Secretary and GAD Secretary said there were no backup files available for these files. The truth will not come out if the Chief Secretary or any IAS official conduct the probe, he said, adding that the NIA should investigate the fire incident too.
Meanwhile, Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Thursday came into picture after forwarding the Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala’s letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleging that the fire in Secretariat was a conspiracy.
The Governor said that the letter has been “forwarded for appropriate consideration”.
