The National Investigation Agency is all set to question Kerala Higher Education Minister K.T. Jaleel in the next two days in connection with the gold smuggling case.
Jaleel, who was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate on Friday in connection with the alleged FCRA violation in getting consignments of Holy Quran through diplomatic channel, has been in the middle of a storm with the opposition Congress and the BJP staging state-wide protests demanding his resignation.
The ED on Tuesday said the minister has not given any satisfactory statements during the interrogation and that he could be called for questioning again.
The NIA, on its part, said though the minister has not been named in the case, it wants to question him to know if there was any gold smuggling activity under the guise of distribution of the religious texts, reported IANS, quoting an agency official.
The minister's name had also figured in the call list of Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the case.
On Monday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had rallied behind the beleaguered minister, asserting there was no need for him to resign, as being demanded by the opposition.
Meanwhile, the NIA officials said they were going through the digital evidence it collected from the possession of Swapna Suresh, which points fingers to VIPs with who she was associated with.
So far, the anti-terror probe agency has made twenty arrests in the case.
