Kerala Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel is likely to be questioned in the gold smuggling case, said a senior officer familiar with the probe into the racket.
Last week, Jaleel had said that he had accepted a sponsorship for food worth ₹five lakh from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consulate to distribute as ‘zakat’ (alms, one of the five pillars of Islam).
The minister’s phone number had figured in the list of phone calls of one of the prime accused Swapna Suresh. According to the list that was leaked, Jaleel had made nine calls to Suresh in June with the calls ranging from 64 seconds to over three minutes. The accused had also called the minister’s office staff several times.
Hours after the list surfaced on July 14, the minister had called a press conference and said he had called Suresh who was formerly employed in the consulate in connection with Ramzan kits being offered by the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. But this clarification only invited more trouble.
The minister is not supposed to accept any fund or freebies without the consent of the Ministry of External Affairs, experts said.
“All such contributions will have to come through the MEA only. A state minister cannot directly interact with the representative of a foreign country and it is against diplomatic protocol and norms,” said former diplomat T P Sreenivasan.
{{/usCountry}}“All such contributions will have to come through the MEA only. A state minister cannot directly interact with the representative of a foreign country and it is against diplomatic protocol and norms,” said former diplomat T P Sreenivasan.
{{/usCountry}}The Opposition Congress has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking action against Jaleel while the BJP sought his immediate resignation. “The conduct of the minister is punishable under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. We have requested the PM to include this also in the ongoing probe into smuggling,” said Congress MP the UDF convener Benny Behnan who wrote to the PM two days ago.
But the minister said it was part of a witch-hunt and he is ready for any probe. “I did not accept direct money or fund. I accepted ‘zakat’ to distribute it to poor people in my constituency. I did it through a government agency. It is sad such a humanitarian move is mired in a controversy,” Jaleel said.
He also said that during Diwali and Christmas many foreign missions carry out such humanitarian campaigns. But the BJP said the minister was trying to communalise the whole issue. “Cornered, now he is playing his favourite communal card,” said BJP state president K Surendran.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had sent a letter to the PM earlier this month requesting him to include the terror angle also in the gold smuggling probe. But many in the CPI (M) fear that the BJP may use it to embarrass the government when assembly elections are nine months away.
“We hope the probe will not take a political colour,” said senior CPI (M) leader K N Balagopal.
The Customs had seized 30 kg gold from a consignment that came in the name of an official of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5. On July 9, the Union home ministry asked the National Investigation Agency to probe the racket. Several other central agencies are also involved in the investigation.
The NIA has arrested four persons and Customs 13 in connection with the case so far.
Two senior officials, the CM’s principal secretary M Sivasankar and IT fellow Arun Balachandran, were removed after their name cropped up and many others are under the scanner now.