Reacting to the news report of one of his former aides being detained for smuggling 500 grams of gold at the Delhi airport, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said he was "shocked" to learn about the incident.
The Congress leader said he fully supports the authorities in their efforts to take necessary action and added that "the law must take its own course."
"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," Shashi Tharoor said in a tweet.
He said the accused is a 72-year-old retiree undergoing frequent dialysis and was retained as part of his staff on a part-time basis on compassionate grounds.
"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," the Congress leader wrote.
According to news agency ANI, Delhi Customs, on Wednesday, detained two people for alleged gold smuggling. One of them, identified as Shiv Kumar Prasad, claimed that he was a personal assistant to Tharoor.
Prasad had come to the Delhi airport to receive someone who was coming from Dubai. Both were arrested when the person who arrived from Dubai was trying to hand over the gold to Prasad.
Reacting to the news, Union minister and Tharoor's rival candidate from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency Rajeev Chandrasekhar took a dig at both the Congress and the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala calling them 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," he wrote in a tweet.