Thiruvananthapuram : Following centre’s rejection of V Muraleedharan’s brag on smuggled gold being private, Congress in the state was left red in the face along with BJP over the fallacy. The Finance Ministry’s assertion of the smuggled gold being a diplomatic baggage has fused spirits out of the two cooperative camps, who for a long time were subtly and openly demonstrative against the state government.
The Customs Commissioner had informed Finance Ministry on the diplomatic status of the intercepted contraband way back in July itself - a fact divulged by the minister in the parliament on Monday. The information adds to suspicions that Deputy Union Minister V Muraleedharan made deliberate attempts to derail investigations by propagating the opposite. Also given the fact that, the finance ministry clarified the diplomatic nature of the gold smuggled in while handing the case over to NIA, Muraleedharan’s moves stand out as more dubious.
Also notable was V Muraleedharan's almost defencsive tone, when he in a televised interview stated that, his External Ministry had nothing to do with UAE attaché fleeing the country, post the scam. Incidentally, the utterance serves to automatically put the onus on Home Ministry for the getaway. Also dubious is the backdrop that, the investigators summoned RSS channel head, Anil Nambiar, for instructing a key culprit to deny diplomatic status for the gold baggage. Now, after Anil Nambiar’s interrogative session, Muraleedharan has gone alltogether mum on the case.
Early on, the Left demanded probe into the likely involvement of Muraleedharan and state BJP leaders in the smuggling racket. However, Congress then and now has been unwilling to offer any reaction that could discomfort. BJP. And, although the centre’s rejection of Muraleedharan’s claims on Monday, came in response to query put up by its own leaders in the Lok Sabha, Congress remains determined to look away rather than utter a single word against its saffron counterpart.
