Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 27 (IANS): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday condemned the arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the liquor policy case.

Taking to Twitter, he said, "The arrest of @msisodia by CBI is another example of how @BJP4India misuses the Union Government's agencies to intimidate the opposition. It's a blatant abuse of power and an attack on democracy. Such repression undermines the very foundation of our nation and should be resisted."

His tweet came hours after his assistant private secretary C.M.Ravindran skipped Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons to appear before its Kochi office. Instead, Ravindran sent an e-mail saying that as he is busy with the ongoing Assembly session that resumed its sitting on Monday after a break, he will not be able to appear before it.

Ravindran's email comes at a time when the chief minister's former principal secretary M. Sivasankar, who retired on January 31, is presently in jail after three days of questioning early this month in the now-controversial pet project of Vijayan- Life Mission case.

A huge sum of money had allegedly exchanged hands which was revealed by Swapna Suresh- the prime accused in the gold smuggling case and also in the Life Mission flat bribery case.