MALAPPURAM: Youth League state general secretary P.K. Firos has alleged that former minister K.T. Jaleel had received a commission in the controversial land deal for the Malayalam University. Firos said he was prepared to release documents if Jaleel denied involvement.

According to Firos, serious financial irregularities took place in the transaction. Land valued between Rs 2,000 and Rs 40,000 per cent was purchased by the government at Rs 1.60 lakh per cent, amounting to a total of Rs 17.65 crore. Some of the landowners, he claimed, were relatives of Minister V. Abdurahman and family members of a Left candidate from Tirur.

A Chennai Green Tribunal subcommittee later reported that much of the acquired land was mangrove forest. Despite Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan laying the foundation stone in 2019, no construction has taken place in six years. The government is now searching for alternative land. Firos demanded that the money spent be recovered from Jaleel.

Responding to the allegations, Jaleel said the decision to acquire the land was made during the previous UDF government, not during his tenure as minister. “On February 17, 2016, the price was fixed at Rs 1.70 lakh per cent. The Left government reduced it by Rs 10,000 per cent and excluded 6.5 acres of unusable land,” he said.

He further accused Firos of being the one accustomed to taking commissions in land deals. “The delay in construction was due first to financial constraints and later to the MLA’s lack of interest. I challenge Firos to produce evidence against me,” Jaleel added.