UAE Consul General had illegal links with ministers, alleges Customs

Thiruvananthapuram: The Customs has put the government on the defensive in connection with the gold smuggling case. They revealed that the UAE consul general had illegal connection with the ministers and higher officials in the state through Sarith and Swapna.

The serious allegations are revealed in a show cause notice issued by the Customs to Consul general Jamal Hussain Al Sabi, attaché Rashid Khamis and chief accountant Khalid. All of three of them acted in Kerala violating the protocol rules of the state government and the Union Ministry of External Affairs.

Some meetings were held in the chief minister's office too. Some ministers also were influenced by them. The 260-page show cause notice clearly states the reasons for adding them in the list of accused. Though the Consul General had no security threats, he was given Y category security bypassing protocol office. He misused this several times, it is pointed out in the notice.

The Consul General and team engaged in smuggling when he was appointed in Vietnam. They smuggled banned medicines and cigarette to Vietnam and sold via Instagram. The Consul General and others were sent to Kerala as part of a disciplinary action, it is noted in the notice.

The gang also planned to start smuggling in Kerala with the help of Sarith and Sandeep. They switched to gold smuggling through Swapna and Ramees. Sarith bought the consul general a cash counting machine to check counterfeit currencies in his remuneration.