KOCHI: Opposition Leader VD Satheesan on Saturday said that Pinarayi Vijayan should stay away from the post of Chief Minister as he was accused of being involved in a gold smuggling case. Satheesan, who alleged that there was an attempt to reach a compromise with Swapna Suresh added that the government and the CPIM were moving forward by taking rule of law in their hands.

"Pinarayi Vijayan should be prepared to investigate the statement. He should stay away from the post of Chief Minister. If there is a defamation allegation against the Chief Minister, they can approach the Sessions Court. They were not ready for that either. Without doing any of this, the ADGP has been charged with a case that did not even stand on the veranda of the court," Satheesan said.

On Tuesday, Swapna Suresh gave a confidential statement under section 164 (recording of confessions and statements) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) alleging the CM's involvement.

Later, the state government appointed a 12-member team led by the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) to probe Swapna for giving the 164 statement against the CM.

Swapna had also claimed that she was also threatened by the CM's mediator to withdraw her statement.