political targets. TV journalist questioned Anil Nambiar, a TV journalist and coordinating editor of Janam TV has been questioned by Enforcement Directorate of India in connection with Gold smuggling on 27 August 2020. He was in touch with accused Swapna Suresh on July 5, the day Customs recovered the smuggled gold. Two pages of a leaked document, part of the statement given by Swapna Suresh to the Customs and submitted in the Economic Offences Court in a sealed envelope appeared in the media. As per her statement, Anil asked her to get a press release issued from the consulate general claiming that it was not diplomatic baggage which contained gold, but a private baggage. But this plan could allegedly not be followed through by the parties involved. Reactions Following the issue, Ahmed Al Banna, UAE's ambassador to India, told the media that he will coordinate with officials in Kerala for the investigation into the incident. UAE embassy released an official statement that said that the gold smuggling in Trivandrum and its diplomatic role had no role in the matter. The statement said the embassy "condemns the attempted misuse of diplomatic channels by an individual engaged in smuggling activity" and "firmly rejected such acts". However, the UAE consulate's admin attache left the country on 12 June 2020, even before National Investigation Agency could question him. The Congress party demanded the resignation of Pinarayi Vijayan over the alleged involvement of his office in the case. Ramesh Chennithala, opposition leader in state legislative, stated that "the current government in the state has tarnished the image of Kerala worldwide". Mullappally Ramachandran, state chief of the congress party, demanded a probe by RAW. UDF, a coalition led by the Congress party, also organised an online sit-in protest. Bharatiya Janata Party, the party leading the coalition ruling the country has organised hunger strikes seeking resignation of Chief Minister of Kerala. Several prominent leaders of the party including V. Muraleedharan, Minister of state for External Affairs, took part in the hunger strike. CPI(M), the party ruling the state, accused that the central Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan was trying to interfere with the investigation by claiming that the gold seized was not diplomatic cargo. His claim was allegedly proven wrong when the Finance Ministry informed the Parliament that the gold was smuggled through diplomatic baggage. CPI(M) state secretariat said that "Muraleedharan does not have