Kochi: Former Kerala PWD Minister VK Ebrahimkunj, arrested in the Palarivattom flyover scam, was remanded for 14 days on Wednesday. A Vigilance court judge finished the remand procedure at the hospital where Ebrahimkunj has been admitted. He will not be shifted to jail for now.

In a surprising move that could have strong political repercussions in the run-up to the local body polls, a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau team arrested Kunju on Wednesday.

The arrest was recorded at 10:28am at a hospital in Kochi where the ex-minister was admitted to.

Earlier in the morning, the probe team had visited Kunju's residence at Aluva, near here, in a possible move to take him into custody. But they were informed by his family that Kunju was admitted to a Kochi hospital on Tuesday night and only his wife was present at the house.

The probe team even sought the assistance of women police officers too to conduct a check at the home as the ex-minister was not in.

Though the arrest has been registered, Kunju might remain in the hospital at least for this night. 

Investigators suspect that the MLA checked into the hospital at night after being briefed in advance by some about the impending arrest.

The Vigilance team had reached Aluva from Thiruvanathapuram at 10am. It came to know about his swift hospital shift only then. 

The UDF termed the arrest as a smoke screen to cover the slew of embarrassing issues plaguing the LDF government.  

The IUML has called for an emergency meeting in the wake of his arrest. Responding to his colleague's arrest, IUML leader P K Kunjalikutty remarked it as 'inopportune'.

Minister K T Jaleel, Ebrahim Kunju's former colleague in the IUML, quoted a famed line from legendary Malayalam poet Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer to sum up the developments. 

Responding to the arrest, Jaleel sung: 'Namukku namey panivathu nakam, narakavum athupoley...', meaning 'We create heaven and hell for ourselves...'

Jaleel himself has been cornered over a few controversies and was recently questioned by the NIA and the ED. 

LDF counter-move

The move assumes political significance as the state is heading towards local body elections in December.

The arrest of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader could give leverage to the ruling LDF, which had been on defensive over various issues from the Life Mission deal scam, Bineesh Kodiyeri's arrest and the allegations made against the chief minister's office by the accused in the sensational Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case.

The Vigilance had conducted a raid at Kunju's house in the past and had interrogated him in connection with the case in September 2019.

The case

The irregularities in the Palarivattom flyover construction came into limelight last year.

It is suspected that Ebrahim Kunju, who was the PWD minister in the Oommen Chandy government when the bridge was constructed, intervened to release an amount in advance to the building contractor for the flyover work. Though there were no provisions in the agreement, an amount of Rs 8.25 crore was paid as advance to the company with a meagre interest of seven per cent. This resulted in a yearly loss of Rs 57 lakh to the State government, Vigilance had told the Kerala High Court.

Former Public Works Secretary TO Sooraj, former Kitco MD Sumit Goyal, RBDCK company GM P D Thankachan were arrested in connection with the case earlier.

Last year Sooraj, the fourth accused in the case, had raised charges against Ebrahim Kunju in the Vigilance court.

Implicating the former minister Sooraj stated the order to release the advance amount without interest to RDS Projects was issued by the then PWD minister Ebrahim Kunju after Mohammed Hanish, the MD of the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK), had made a recommendation in this regard.

RDS Projects was the flyover builder and Hanish's RBDCK was the agency implementing the project.

The Palarivattom flyover was inaugurated on October 12, 2016. The flaws in the flyover were detected in July 2017 and the facility was closed for traffic on May 1, 2019 owing to safety concerns.

Within just two-and-a-half-years of operation, the 750-metre-long bridge, built at a cost of Rs 42 crore, began to develop faults and cracks. A team from the IIT Madras had found several cracks in the girders and pillars. It was also found that these cracks were expanding.