<p>The Enforcement Directorate reportedly took a statement of Kerala Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel in connection with his links to the Kerala gold smuggling accused.</p>.<p>The minster accepted food kits for distribution in connection with Ramadan and packets containing Quran from the UAE consulate and he was found to be in touch with UAE consulate former employee and gold smuggling case accused Swapna Nair.</p>.<p>The minister and ED officials are tight-lipped over the matter. It was learnt that the ED officials took Jaleel's statement at premises in Kochi on Friday.</p>.<p>While the fresh development caused further embarrassment to the left-front government in Kerala, the Opposition Congress and BJP demanded Jaleel's resignation. </p>.<p>Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier justified Jaleel. He said that there was nothing unusual in higher education minister K T Jaleel's direct deals with the UAE consulate. Jaleel had also maintained that it was a normal practice to accept food kits and Qurans as those were part of religious customs and cultural practices. However, the minister's action was alleged to be against protocol.</p>.<p>It was during the probe into the gold smuggling involving UAE Consulate former employees that the customs came across the distribution of Quran through diplomatic baggage. Around 300 packets containing Qurans were found to be brought in March-April and distributed using vehicles of state government agency Centre for Advanced Printing and Training, allegedly as directed by Jaleel. The actual number of Qurans in the packets were yet to be ascertained.</p>.<p>The allegations against Jaleel surfaced initially after his phone number was found among the call details records of UAE consulate former employee and gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh Jaleel then defended that the UAE consul general offered Ramadan relief kits, which was usual practice, and his conversations with Swapna pertained to that only.</p>.<p>The ED had already launched a probe into the financial aspects of the gold smuggling case as well as the links of the accused with the Bengaluru based drug peddling racket that recently emerged. Kerala CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's son Bineesh Kodiyeri, who was found to have links with the drug peddling accused, was quizzed by ED for over ten hours on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said that it was for the first time that a minister in Kerala was being quizzed by the ED. BJP state president K Surendran said that if chief minister's principal secretary M Sivasankar was kept under suspension after he was quizzed by central agencies, why similar step was not being taken against Jaleel.</p>.<p>Various opposition parties including the Congress and the BJP unleashed violent protests in front of Kerala secretariat on Friday night demanding Jaleel's resignation.</p>
<p>The Enforcement Directorate reportedly took a statement of Kerala Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel in connection with his links to the Kerala gold smuggling accused.</p>.<p>The minster accepted food kits for distribution in connection with Ramadan and packets containing Quran from the UAE consulate and he was found to be in touch with UAE consulate former employee and gold smuggling case accused Swapna Nair.</p>.<p>The minister and ED officials are tight-lipped over the matter. It was learnt that the ED officials took Jaleel's statement at premises in Kochi on Friday.</p>.<p>While the fresh development caused further embarrassment to the left-front government in Kerala, the Opposition Congress and BJP demanded Jaleel's resignation. </p>.<p>Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier justified Jaleel. He said that there was nothing unusual in higher education minister K T Jaleel's direct deals with the UAE consulate. Jaleel had also maintained that it was a normal practice to accept food kits and Qurans as those were part of religious customs and cultural practices. However, the minister's action was alleged to be against protocol.</p>.<p>It was during the probe into the gold smuggling involving UAE Consulate former employees that the customs came across the distribution of Quran through diplomatic baggage. Around 300 packets containing Qurans were found to be brought in March-April and distributed using vehicles of state government agency Centre for Advanced Printing and Training, allegedly as directed by Jaleel. The actual number of Qurans in the packets were yet to be ascertained.</p>.<p>The allegations against Jaleel surfaced initially after his phone number was found among the call details records of UAE consulate former employee and gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh Jaleel then defended that the UAE consul general offered Ramadan relief kits, which was usual practice, and his conversations with Swapna pertained to that only.</p>.<p>The ED had already launched a probe into the financial aspects of the gold smuggling case as well as the links of the accused with the Bengaluru based drug peddling racket that recently emerged. Kerala CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's son Bineesh Kodiyeri, who was found to have links with the drug peddling accused, was quizzed by ED for over ten hours on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said that it was for the first time that a minister in Kerala was being quizzed by the ED. BJP state president K Surendran said that if chief minister's principal secretary M Sivasankar was kept under suspension after he was quizzed by central agencies, why similar step was not being taken against Jaleel.</p>.<p>Various opposition parties including the Congress and the BJP unleashed violent protests in front of Kerala secretariat on Friday night demanding Jaleel's resignation.</p>
