THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State Protocol Officer B Sunil Kumar has informed the Customs that over the past two years, UAE consulate had not applied for tax concessions for diplomatic parcels and no certificate has been issued in this regard.

With this, the controversial parcel received by K T Jaleel, putting him in a spot, appears to be some smuggled item and his arguments regarding the parcel may not stand.

The Customs will hand over the information regarding this to the NIA.

Jaleel’s claim is that the Quran texts received as parcel from the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram were sent to Malappuram in the vehicle of C-apt, a government institution. But, the Customs’ report has rebuffed Jaleel’s claim, saying that it is not the policy of UAE government to distribute religious texts through the consulate in other countries. The noose further tightens around Jaleel as the UAE has made it clear that they had not sent so many Quran texts through the consulate.

Jaleel later said that the packets of Quran received are still kept safe in two institutions in Edappaly and Alathur. But again, this is seen as a violation of protocol as a minister is not supposed to directly enter into any deal with a foreign office.

Swpana and her team had smuggled gold 21 times through diplomatic channel. What landed Jaleel in trouble was 250 packets weighing 4479 kg that arrived in the name of religious texts. The parcel was handed over without levying Excise-Customs duties. For this, the recipient is said to have produced government’s fake certificate.

Out of this, 32 packets were shifted to Malappuram in C-apt’s vehicle. Jaleel is the chairman of C-apt. Meanwhile, there are hints that in the protocol department, files pertaining to more than one year are missing.