Aboard Monday, two Youth Congress leaders wearing black shirts on a private aircraft yelled slogans in connection with the gold smuggling case against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was also on the same flight.
The chief minister was aboard the same IndiGo Airlines aircraft from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram. The two youth leaders were later apprehended by airport authorities and turned over to airport police.
“Incident happened at around 5 PM when the two passengers raised anti-CM slogans while on board,” an airport official told ANI.
The incident was then submitted to the Director-General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) aviation regulatory agency for inquiry.
The Kerala Gold Smuggling Case involves the illegal importation of gold into the state via diplomatic routes. On July 5, 2019, the customs agency in Thiruvananthapuram discovered 30 kilogramme gold worth Rs 14.82 crore trafficked in a cargo disguised as diplomatic luggage.
However, the main accused, Swapna Suresh, said that in 2016, M Sivasankar, the former Principal Secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister, requested her to transport Vijayan’s luggage to Dubai. When the bag was delivered to the consulate, it was discovered to contain currency, and the entire gold smuggling business began from there.
