KOCHI: Gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh has alleged that former minister K T Jaleel MLA that he had brought in various consignments to not just the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram but to consulates in other states as well through his benami Madhavan Warrier.
In the affidavit filed before the Special Court for PMLA cases in Ernakulam, Swapna said, “The UAE consul-general had informed me that Jaleel, with the help of Madhavan Warrier, a benami of Jaleel and owner of FLY JACK Logistics, Mumbai, had brought in consignments of dates and Quran copies which came to consulates in other states in India as he had done in Kerala.
The consul-general informed me that the ex-minister had agreed to cooperate with the diplomat to handle future consignments that would come to various consulates with the help of Madhavan Warrier.” The affidavit also stated that the consul-general informed Swapna that Jaleel, using his position as the minister for higher education, had arranged an honorary DLit for the Sharjah ruler from Calicut University influencing Dr K Muhammed Basheer, then vice-chancellor. As such, the university authorities had written to the Sharjah ruler offering him DLit, it said.
With regard to the allegation about accepting Quran copies from the UAE Consulate, Swapna stated that in February 2018 that the consul-general had instructed her to direct Sarith P S, another accused in the case, to take steps to clear and collect 570 cartons containing Quran copies from Thiruvananthapuram airport which came through the diplomatic channel. “Of the 570 cartons, around 20 were directed to be kept in the room of the consul-general which were later transported to the official residence of Jaleel in the vehicle owned by the consulate. Like in the case of dates (17 tonnes of dates imported through the consulate), some cartons were heavier than others, which clearly would indicate the contents of all cartons were not the same,” she stated.
According to her, Kanthapuram Aboobacker (Musaliyar) of Markaz and his son came to the consulate several times and all cartons were taken in the Markaz vehicles from the consulate. “Nobody had any idea about the contents of the cartons and where those were taken to,” Swapna said. Jaleel was part of the distribution of Quran copies and dates.
“No one has any clue about the disappearance of 17 tonnes of dates as these went missing with the knowledge of consul-general, Jaleel, M Sivasankar and chief minister. “I could make it clear that these were not dates as heavier boxes were segregated and kept separately in the consul-general’s majlis room,” she said.