Kochi, November 9: BJP Kerala State Committee Member PR Shivashankar on Sunday said that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was afraid to take action against Minister for higher education KT Jaleel. His remark followed the summons to Jaleel by the Customs Department in a case of bringing Quran copies through the UAE Consulate.

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"This is another blow to the state government in several ways. This is not the first time that Jaleel has been called by any national agency. He has been questioned by NIA and ED. He has been smuggling gold inside the Quran.

That's what the complaint is. So clearly there is evidence. The Customs has also clearly mentioned again that the distribution was not done properly and there is no evidence that the Quran has been served to any particular area or any particular people," Shivashankar told ANI.

"The vehicle was stopped somewhere the transportation has been totally done illegally. The CM should ask Jaleel to resign and appear before Customs. I don't know why the government is taking a risk in the case of Jaleel because the CM is afraid to take action against Jaleel. I think there is some internal play between Jaleel and the chief minister," he said.

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The BJP leader said that the Customs has clearly mentioned that the weight of the baggage and the particular Quran.

"There is a difference of almost 15 to 20 kg of the Quran. The distribution of the Quran has not been completed till today. Another allegation is that the education department vehicle has been used for transportation. It is also against the rule. In Kerala, we have a Waqf department. So they can transport. But the CAPT (Kerala State Centre for Advanced Printing & Training) has been utilised," he said.

"There are a lot of mistakes and conspiracy theories against Jaleel. So, Jaleel must explain in front of the public or the public," he added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)