Pinarayi Vijayan's former top official Sivasankar appears before ED

The once most powerful bureaucrat in the Pinarayi Vijayan government M.Sivasankar, who retired from service in January, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate on Monday

Enforcement Directorate
IANS Kochi
2 min read Last Updated : Feb 13 2023 | 1:23 PM IST

The once most powerful bureaucrat in the Pinarayi Vijayan government M.Sivasankar, who retired from service in January, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate on Monday in connection with the chief minister's pet project, Life Mission.

Incidentally, he was asked to appear before the probe agency on the last day of his service and on his request for a change, a fresh date was issued.

This case involves the alleged violation of foreign contribution regulations in the Kerala government's flagship project, which intended to provide homes to the poor who lost their houses in the devastating floods of 2018.

The project at Wadakkanchery in Thrissur district then came under a cloud.

Sivasankar has been summoned after they recently completed a few rounds of questioning of Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case, and interrogated her along with two other accused in the same case.

The CBI had earlier arrested Unitac builder Santhosh Eapen besides questioning top government officials, including Sivasankar, in the Life Mission case.

The case surfaced after the gold smuggling case came to light in June 2020 in which Sivasankar was jailed.

Both Swapna Suresh and Sarith employed in the UAE Consulate, were later found to have a role in Life Mission funds misappropriation too.

The state government then had approached the Kerala High Court to stop the probe, but it dismissed the pleas and said that an ongoing CBI probe should continue in the case involving senior government officers and contractors.

The CBI had then taken a position that private company Unitac, carrying out construction on behalf of a Kerala government body, did not get the contract through a tender.

The project entailed construction of 97 apartments and a health centre, and it was alleged that both the gold smuggling case accused held talks with Unitac and fixed a commission of 30 per cent of the project cost -- 20 per cent to a UAE official and 10 per cent to Swapna Suresh and other co-accused for approvals and other file movements.

The CBI claimed that Sivasankar had met Unitac owner Santhosh Eapen at his chamber along with Swapna Suresh and assured full support.

U.V. Jose, the then Life Mission Chief Executive Officer, was also allegedly present at this meeting.

--IANS

sg/shb/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Quarterly Starter

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

Save 46%

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Access to Exclusive Premium Stories Online

  • Over 30 behind the paywall stories daily, handpicked by our editors for subscribers

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

More From This Section

Topics :Pinarayi VijayanEnforcement Directorate

First Published: Feb 13 2023 | 1:23 PM IST

Next Story