Swapna Suresh heaps allegations against former minister KT Jaleel

Gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh. Photo: Manorama
Gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh. Photo: Manorama

Kochi: Swapna Suresh, an accused in the 2020 gold smuggling case that rattled Kerala, on Thursday heaped serious allegations against former minister KT Jaleel.

In an affidavit submitted to the court, Swapna accused Jaleel of anti-national activities while serving as a Minister in the previous CPM government.

She also accused Jaleel of having shady deals with the Consul General. She said illegal transactions between the two were done by way of the diplomatic channel.

Responding to Swapna's charge, Jaleel conceded that he had mailed the personal assistant of the UAE Consul general seeking appropriate action against Madhyamam daily. "But I have never asked for a ban on the newspaper," Jaleel said in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.

He also said that he had sent the mail from his personal mail ID to the official mail ID of the Consul General. He said he sent the mail in his official name, Abdul Jaleel. He said there was no protocol violation in what he did. A UDF MP, too, had written to the Consul General, he added.

Swapna Suresh was then the PA to the Consul. Swapna, in her sworn statement, had said that Jaleel had sought the support of the Consul General to ban the newspaper in the Gulf.

Jaleel said he was only trying to assess the veracity of the report published in Madhyamam. The newspaper had carried the photographs of non-resident Malayals who had died of COVID in Gulf countries. "The feature had caused deep resentment na dfear in the minds of Gulf Malayalis and I just wanted to bring this to the attention of the UAE authorities," Jaleel said.

He also refuted Swapna's charge that he had business dealings with the Consul General. "I have never been part of any business, except for a small period. When I was secretary of the Youth League, I ran a travel agency. But that was just for a short period. Other than that, I had never been part of any business, anywhere in the world," Jaleel said.

She also said that Jaleel had won the Consul General's trust with the assurance that the deal had the patronage of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

This is precisely why Vijayan is afraid of the case, she said. He is manipulating the system to not let the details of this case, Swapna alleged.

"He [Pinarayi Vijayan] is harassing me because I am trying to bring the truth out," Swapna said.

Swapna had also filed a petition seeking to quash the cases that were registered following her latest revelations. The High Court has posted this hearing to July 26.

On July 5, 2020, 30 kilograms of gold worth Rs 14.82 crore was seized by the Customs at Thiruvananthapuram Airport from a diplomatic bag that was meant to be delivered to the UAE Consulate.

M Sivasankar, the principal secretary to Kerala CM, was suspended and removed from the post after a preliminary inquiry confirmed that he had links with Swapna Suresh.

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