Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday demanded Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s resignation over gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh’s “startling revelations” and demanded a court-monitored probe.

“The startling revelations by Swapan Suresh are unprecedented and shocking. Kerala CM has been accused and his officials are involved in a gold smuggling case. They can’t deny this as a political conspiracy,” he said.

Chennithala alleged that the BJP is conspiring with the ruling CPM and wants to weaken the Congress.

“Anti-national activity has taken place in the CM office, we demand his resignation, inquiry must be done under a court. We can’t trust central agencies, they have a nefarious design, BJP is in cahoots with CPM & wants to weaken the Congress,” he said.

Suresh on Tuesday alleged that the Kerala CM, his wife Kamala and daughter Veena, then minister KT Jaleel and CMs personal secretary Raveendran were involved in the 2020 gold smuggling case.

Speaking exclusively to Times Now, Suresh said that she has informed a court in Kochi about their involvement in the case.

She alleged that in 2016, M Sivasankar, the former principal secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister, had asked her to send a 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.

Suresh said that vessels, containing heavy metals, were taken to the Cliff House, the CM’s official residence, from the consul general’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram, based on the instructions of Sivasankar.

Suresh on Monday said there was a threat to her life and therefore, she was going to disclose all the facts related to the case before the court.

Suresh, a former employee of the UAE consulate in Kochi, was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with another accused Sandeep Nair from Bengaluru on July 11, 2020 in the sensational gold smuggling case. She was released from jail in November last year, 16 months after her arrest.

The smuggling racket was busted on July 5, 2020 following the seizure of gold worth Rs 15 crore from the diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport.

Several people, including another ex-employee of the UAE Consulate in Kochi, Sarith PS, were arrested in connection with the case.

Meanwhile, VD Satheeshan, leader of opposition in the Kerala Assembly, demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister.

“We need a free and fair investigation. An investigation should be done under the supervision of court as we don’t believe in central and state agencies. There should not be one justice for Ommen Chandy and other for Pinarayi Vijayan. During solar scam time, based on the accused statement, several cases were registered against Ommen Chandy, including a CBI enquiry,” he said.

The Kerala government has repeatedly rejected the charges and said that the allegation against the CM regarding the gold smuggling case is politically motivated.

BJP leader V Muraleedharan also hit out at the CPM government and said that the ruling party is afraid of facing the people.