Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday reacted sharply after a report claimed that his former member of staff was caught smuggling gold at Delhi airport and asserted the law must take its own course.
The Congress MP from Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram said that the 72-year-old man, who was caught by customs officials with 500 gm of gold, was hired on a part-time basis on compassionate grounds.
“I was shocked to hear of an incident involving a former member of my staff who has been rendering part-time service to me in terms of airport facilitation assistance. He is a 72-year-old retiree undergoing frequent dialysis and was retained on a part-time basis on compassionate grounds,” Tharoor said in a post on X.
The Congress leader said that he doesn’t condone the alleged wrongdoing of his former staffer and that he will fully support the authorities in the investigation.
“I do not condone any alleged wrongdoing and fully support the authorities in their efforts to take any necessary action as may be required to investigate the matter. The law must take its own course,” he said.
According to a news agency, the customs officials on Wednesday arrested two people for allegedly smuggling gold.
One of them identified himself as Shiv Kumar Prasad and claimed he was the personal assistant of Shashi Tharoor.
Reacting to the incident, Union Minister and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar, who contested the ongoing Lok Sabha elections from Thiruvananthapuram against Shashi Tharoor, took a dig at the Congress leader and called the Congress and CPM – an alliance of gold smugglers.
“First CM Secy involved in Gold smuggling, now Cong MP “aide”/PA detained for Gold smuggling. CPM and Cong – both INDI alliance partners – alliance of gold smugglers,” Chandrasekhar wrote on X.