Protests in Kerala as Oppn steps up pressure over secretariat fire

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as opposition parties continue to allege the fire that gutted ‘important files’ and furniture at the Kerala secretariat on Tuesday was deliberate, the state witnessed a series of protests on Wednesday over the incident as protestors clashed with police, injuring many. While the opposition parties allege the fire was a deliberate attempt to destroy key evidences in the gold smuggling case, the ruling party claims it was a mere accident.

Even though the first information report (FIR) says many files were destroyed, but government and senior officers maintain that none of the important files were lost and the incident had nothing to do with the smuggling case.

General administration department (GAD) secretary P Hani said the gutted files were related to government guest house bookings and ministers swearing-in details. However, nobody is willing to believe his claims. A section of the employees however allege that it was a well planned and executed fire and important files dealing with the exemption certificates in United Arab Emirates consular office, tour itinerary and travel history of some controversial bureaucrats and ministers were destroyed. They say the room in which the fire originated was closed for last two days after one of the employees tested Covid-19 positive. They also allege that the secretariat has a small fire unit but it was not put into action, instead officials waited for reinforcement to arrive from outside. The employees also questioned the suspicious movement of some government trade union leaders on the premises.

The opposition also said that Chief Secretary Viswas Mehta’s role in the incident was ‘mysterious’ as he was in a hurry to drive out the media and politicians from the scene. When asked about the incident, Mehta refused to comment saying investigation was on. The government plans to book BJP state president K Surendran, who was among the first to reach the spot, for breach of security. Two inquires in the case are going on separately, one led by police and other by the disaster management secretary.

“Many IAS officers’ names also cropped up during the probe. You don’t need an in-depth inquiry to find out it was an orchestrated one. There are chances for more such manmade fires. We want the NIA to take custody of remaining important files,” said N K Premachandran, RSP MP from Kollam. After meeting governor Arif Mohammad Khan UDF leaders sent another written submission seeking his intervention on Wednesday. HTC