CPI(M) lashes out at UDF over Sonia's meeting with accused in Sabarimala gold loss case

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 25 (PTI) UDF convenor Adoor Prakash on Thursday said he had accompanied a key accused in the Sabarimala gold loss case during an appointment with top Congress leader Sonia Gandhi unaware of who he was, even as the ruling CPI (M) sought to step up the heat on the opposition bloc over the controversy.

A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan questioned senior Congress leaders over the matter, Prakash acknowledged that Unnikrishnan Potty, an accused in the case, had secured an appointment to meet Sonia Gandhi.

Prakash said he had accompanied Potty to the meeting in his capacity as an MP.

"It is true that I went to meet Sonia Gandhi. I did not know that the person who came with me was a criminal linked to the gold loss," Prakash claimed.

He added that he was unaware of who arranged the opportunity for Potty to meet Gandhi and asked the media to find out.

Photographs from the meeting show Potty alongside senior Congress leaders, and images appear to show him handing over or tying something on Gandhi's wrist.

Other leaders, including MP Anto Antony, Govardhan, co-accused in the gold theft case, and Prakash himself were also present.

Following Prakash's statement, CPI(M) state secretary Govindan said the UDF had no answers to key questions regarding the meeting.

He demanded that the UDF clarify under whose leadership the meeting took place, what transpired, and why it was held.

Govindan alleged that the Congress-led UDF was trying to hide details and said some photographs of the Chief Minister circulating online were AI-generated.

The debate comes after Vijayan on Wednesday questioned opposition leaders V D Satheesan and former Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala over their claims about Potty's alleged closeness to the incumbent Left government.

Vijayan had said his government had not given the accused any personal access and dismissed attempts to link it to the case as politically motivated.

He had assured that the investigation into the Sabarimala gold case would continue independently and anyone found responsible would face the law.

Turning the focus back on the opposition, Vijayan had referred to photographs that have surfaced showing Potty, who has been arrested in the gold theft case, and Govardhan, a trader from Bellary, meeting Sonia Gandhi.

In one photograph, Gandhi is seen receiving a gift from Govardhan, while in another, Potty is seen handing over or tying something on her hand. Vijayan had noted that the meeting took place at her residence and was not a casual public interaction. PTI TGB SA