Past connections with the banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) seems to be still haunting Kerala Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel, as it seems to be adding weight to the allegations linking him to the gold smuggling case
The gold smuggling is considered by the Central Agencies as an act of economic terrorism.
As soon as Jaleel's links with the gold smuggling accused came up, his political opponents have been referring to his past SIMI connections.
Many of those held in connection with gold smuggling were allegedly linked to some extremist outfits, they added.
The NIA stated that one of the arrested, Muhammad Ali, was a member of the Popular Front of India, which was considered to be the resurrection of SIMI.
Jaleel was a firebrand leader of SIMI during his college days.
But he left SIMI owing to certain differences with its leadership during his college days itself.
Later, he joined the Indian Union Muslim League through its youth wing - Muslim Youth League - and even became the league's state president.
In 2005, he was expelled by the Muslim League after he raised allegations against the party leaders.
Since then, he was with the Left front and even emerged as the Left front's poster boy in his home district Malappuram by defeating IUML leader Kunhalikutty in the 2006 Assembly polls.
The 53-year-old, who is a PhD holder and an associate professor, bagged the limelight through his scholarly speeches and fight against the IUML leadership.
Jaleel brought many advantages to the front in electoral politics in the Muslim-dominated Malappuram district and it could be owing to the fact that the CPM leadership is strongly backing him.
While Jaleel is justifying the acceptance of Quran and Ramadan relief kits from the UAE consulate in Kerala as customary and cultural practices, the investigation agencies were probing if gold was smuggled using the diplomatic baggage in which Quran was brought. Investigations also claimed the minister flouted the foreign contribution regulation norms and protocols by accepting offers directly from a foreign mission and directly interacting with consulate officials.
According to sources, around 250 packets of the Quran were brought by the UAE consulate through diplomatic baggage in March and the total weight was about 4,470 kilogram. Of this around 1,000 were found to be transported using a Kerala government agency's vehicle to various places, including Malappuram, at the behest of Jaleel. Considering the weight of one Quran, the 250 odd packets might have contained around 7,750 Qurans.