THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two days after he reached the Enforcement Directorate office in Kochi in a secretive manner and was quizzed by sleuths in connection with the gold smuggling case linked to the UAE consulate, Higher Education Minister KT Jaleel continues to feel the heat with opposition parties intensifying protests and insisting on his resignation.
The youth outfits of the Congress and BJP took to the streets on Sunday and tried to block Jaleel on his way to Thiruvananthapuram from his house in Malappuram. They showed black flags at him at Valanchery, Changarakulam, Perumbilavu, Paliyekkara toll plaza, Angamaly, Attingal, Thiruvananthapuram and other places. However, the minister was seen greeting the protesters by waving his hands from the car.
While the opposition UDF has declared its intention to scale up protests with a plan to observe fast in front of the Secretariat and district collectorates on September 22, in what could be more trouble for the minister, it is learnt that the NIA and Customs too will quiz him in the smuggling case in the coming days.
A large posse of police force was deployed along the NH to ensure security to the minister.
At Paliyekkara toll plaza in Thrissur, Youth Congress (YC) leader Sajeer Babu suffered a fracture on his hand when police used force to disperse the protesters who tried to block the minister’s vehicle. In Kollam, YC activists hurled rotten eggs at the minister’s vehicle.
Earlier, Valanchery police arrested 16 ABVP workers who protested in front of Jaleel’s residence. The state has been witnessing widespread protests after Jaleel was quizzed by the ED.
Earlier in the day, the minister wrote a Facebook post defending himself, which enraged the opposition parties further. In the post, he said he does not want to say anything to those who spread canards and fallacies without any hesitation.
"All wars for dharma have been won by disclosing what needs to be disclosed to those concerned and by hiding what needs to be hidden," he said. Speaking to mediapersons at Thavanoor, Jaleel said he has said all he wanted to in the Facebook post.