CPI-M comes out in support of Kerala minister K T Jaleel says ED being 'politically used'

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 12 (PTI) Amid protests by the
opposition Congress and BJP in Kerala demanding resignation of
Minister K T Jaleel on Saturday,a day after he was questioned
by the Enforcement Directorate, the state CPI(M) came out in
his support and flayed the central agency saying there were
allegations that it was being "politically used".
     The party also said with the violent protests across
the state, theOpposition Congress-led United Democratic Front
was trying to shift the attention from the Muslim League MLA
M C Kammruddin's Rs 150 crore jewellery scam case.
     Jaleel had appeared before the Enforcement
Directorate on Friday in connection with alleged FCRA
violation in accepting consignments of the Holy Quran brought
from UAE through diplomatic channels and his statement was
recorded.
     "The UDF is trying to shift the attention from its
MLA's multi-crore scam.Just because ED sought explanation from
the minister, the Congress and the BJP are seeking the
resignation of the minister.
     This just proved that Congress is the B-team of the
BJP.The same Congress had earlier alleged that the BJP was
politically using the ED," a statement issued by the CPI(M)
state secretariat said.
     The party also listed out the instances in which
Congress leaders were grilled by the ED in recent past.
     "Rajasthan transport minister Pratap Singh
Khachariyawas was questioned by ED for seven hours in August.
Seems like the Congress leadership in Kerala is unaware of it.
     The brother of Rajasthan CM was raided recently,"
party said,adding that senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram
and D K Sivakumar were arrested by the ED.
     It also said that Robert Vadra was questioned 12
times and senior leader Ahmed Patel for 25 hours.
     "The Congress party which said ED was a political
weapon has now turned into a B-team of the BJP," CPI(M) said.
     The Left party said the Kerala government had
welcomed any probe into the matter unlike some other states
which had stopped the investigation agencies.
     "However, it's odd that the three probe agencies,
the Customs, NIA and the ED, has not yet investigated the
controversial diplomatic baggage sender nor the receiver.
     The probe agencies have told the court that gold was
smuggled through diplomatic passage many times but still
avoided the sender and receiver from the investigation
purview," CPI(M) said.
     The CPI(M) state secretariat, which met today, in a
statement said it was"unnatural" that the ED chief himself
had revealed in Delhi on Friday that it had sought information
from Jaleel.
"There is an allegation that ED is an agency that
is being politically used," it said.
     "The ED has also a dubious distinction that it is
an agency that has been politically used by the Centre," the
CPI(M) state secretariat said.
     The party also alleged that the changes in the
customs department investigation team after it had questioned
a coordinatingeditor of a BJP-alignedchannel has raised
doubts.
     "The motive behind the violent protests by the
Congress-BJP team is just to deviate the attention from the
achievements of the state government and from the Jewellery
scam of the IUML MLA," the party said.
The Marxist party also described as "politically
motivated" the resignation demand by the two opposition
parties.
     The state witnessed widespread protests on Saturday
as the activists of Congress led UDF and BJP and their youth
wings, hit the road seeking Jaleel's immediate resignation.
The minister had earlier admitted that the consignment
containing the Holy Quran had been received from the UAE
Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, which a top Customs official
had referred to as "prima facie violation of FCRA" (Foreign
Contribution Regulation Act).
    The minister's name had also figured in the call list
of Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the case related to gold
smuggling through diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE"
consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.
    However, Jaleel had said the calls were "strictly
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)