Former Minister K.T. Jaleel, MLA, denied the UAE gold case accused Swapna Suresh’s imputation that he had transacted with the UAE ruler behind the back of the Union Ministry of External Affairs.
Dr. Jaleel said he had not violated protocol. He had written to the UAE Consul General in a personal capacity against the COVID-19 scaremongering by a Malayalam newspaper’s UAE edition. He had expressed indignation at the trumped-up news reports of Keralites dying sans COVID-19 care in the Gulf.
Moreover, he had broached the subject with the UAE Consul General and then the mission's executive secretary Swapna Suresh. Dr. Jaleel denied he had sought a UAE government ban on the newspaper.
He had not amassed wealth. The Enforcement Directorate had verified his sources of income and wealth and found nothing amiss, Dr Jaleel said, adding he had no benami business. He had worked briefly as a travel agent, he said.
