Thiruvananthapuram: Upping the pressure on Kerala government, the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front staged online protests in various parts of the State demanding resignationof Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
It alleged unprecedented corruption and nepotism in the Left front government and the gold smuggling case.
UDF leaders, including MLAs and MPs, participated in the protest and ‘satyagraha’, #SpeakUpKerala, from different parts of the State from 9 am to 1 pm while maintaining COVID-19 protocol and connected through video conference, Facebook Live and other social media channels.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, KPCC president Mullapally Ramachandran, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and other leaders were part of the protest.
The high profile Kerala gold smuggling case has links with Tamilnadu with three persons being arrested in Chennai by NIA.
The investigating team found that at least three agents were working in tandem with the smuggling accused Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair.
The role of the agents was to find buyers for the smuggled gold.
The NIA DIG K B Vandana had come to Chennai on 31 July. After holding discussions with a few former Customs Officials, her teams fanned out to parts of Tamilnadu for investigations.
In Tiruchirappalli, the NIA team arrested three men. They had allegedly facilitated the sale of smuggled gold in the past. The team said that the trio have already found prospective customers.
It may be noted that the agency has so far arrested 10 people including key accused Sarith PS, Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair.