THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Youth League, the youth wing of the Muslim League, on Friday issued a 'lookout notice' with a picture of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in connection with the gold smuggling case. Youth League leader PK Firose said the notice with the CM's picture was issued as part of intensifying protests in the wake of new allegations by Swapna Suresh. Firose added that lookout notices would be posted at the district police headquarters on Saturday. Opposition groups have called for the CM's resignation and a state-wide march by the Congress demanding the same turned violent in many places.

Meanwhile, the CPM state secretariat said the allegations against the chief minister are aimed at the next Lok Sabha elections. The party has decided to convene a political briefing to defend the Chief Minister on the issue and to expose that Opposition and the BJP are behind the allegations of Swapna.

The party and the Front believe that there is a political agenda behind Swapna's allegations. The key leaders of the party will explain the issue to the people in explanatory meetings. In the run-up to the elections, gold smuggling and dollar smuggling scandals erupted in the state. According to the CPM state secretariat, the situation is better now than it was then.