Kerala police used water cannons as Congress-led UDF and BJP protested out the secretariat.
The Opposition in Kerala - the Congress-led UDF and the BJP - intensified protests in Thiruvananthapuram after Tuesday evening's fire at the political wing of the secretariat's General Administration Department.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala led a protest outside the secretariat, where police used water cannons and tear gas shells as BJP workers attempted to topple the barricades.
Mr Chennithala has also written to the Kerala Governor, Arif Mohammad Khan, asking for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta to be summoned as he suspects a "well-crafted conspiracy to derail the probe against the key accused in the gold smuggling case, involving the Chief Minister's Office".
While the state's Left government has maintained that no crucial files were destroyed in the fire and ordered a probe, the Opposition has alleged these were attempts to sabotage probe in the gold smuggling case.
A senior IAS officer from the Chief Minister's Office was suspended for alleged links with the smuggling accused and questioned by central investigation agencies.
Speaking to NDTV, Finance Minister Dr Thomas Isaac rubbished the allegations. "I can categorically say that no sensitive or confidential files, or those related to the gold smuggling case, have been lost in the fire. They were not in that room in the first place. We have done a quick verification. The Chief Secretary has assured the Cabinet that no such files have been affected," he said.
The Opposition, however, has countered these claims.
"I enquired with the Chief Secretary and secretaries of the Revenue and the General Administration departments. They said only half the files were computerised; important files in the Political and Protocol departments were not. They said files destroyed in Tuesday's fire were important and no back up is available," said Chennithala, a former home minister.
In a press conference, BJP State President K Surendran also questioned how the state government could ascertain losses without a probe.
Sources said that according to a preliminary police probe Tuesday's incident was "a minor fire caused likely due to short circuit". Though the state government has ordered a probe, the issue is likely to get politicised as Kerala gears up for local body elections, likely in October, and the assembly elections due in mid-2021.