Aluva: The Congress-led Opposition has stepped up its offensive against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, seeking his explanation following the arrest of his former principal secretary and his close confidant M Sivasankar over the Life Mission project bribery case.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan took a dig at the chief minister, accusing him of keeping mum when “difficult questions” pop up one after the other. “A person who was a staff at the Chief Minister's office was arrested first in a gold-smuggling case and now in a money- laundering case," Satheesan said referring to a related sensational case. The Life Mission case surfaced after the gold smuggling scandal came to light in June 2020 for which Sivasankar was jailed.
"Sivasankar, who is the focal point in the Life Mission corruption case, has now been arrested. If neither the Government nor the Chief Minister is involved, why are they fearing a CBI probe? If there is nothing to hide, the Government should be ready to revoke the petition against the CBI probe," Satheesan lashed out.
Satheesan also said that with the arrest of Sivasankar, the corruption during the tenure of the first Pinarayi Government (2016-21) is now coming out one by one.
“The same Government that has hit the public hard by burdening them with all sorts of taxes is now using the taxpayers' money to escape from corruption cases. A CBI probe should be held along with the ED inquiry in the Life Mission fraud case. The culprits who fleeced the money should be brought before the law," he added.
Sivsankar, who was questioned by the ED in connection with the Life Mission project case for the past three days, was arrested late on Tuesday night. The case involves the alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulations) Act in the project, which intended to provide homes to the poor who lost their houses in the floods of 2018.
Onus on CM too: Chennithala
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala stated that the arrest of Sivasankar is tantamount to pointing the finger at the Chief Minister. “If the probe goes in the right direction, certain big fishes will get caught,” he said in New Delhi.
"If neither the Chief Minister nor the Government has any role in this case, then why are they afraid of a CBI probe? Shouldn't the Chief Minister provide answers to all this? The Chief Minister shouldn't be answering at his convenience. Surely, questions will be raised. The Chief Minister is accountable to all questions raised by the public and the Opposition," Chennithala said.
Chennithala also suspected a tacit pact between the CPM in Kerala and the BJP at the Centre to derail probe into sensational cases. "If the probe in this case progresses in the right direction, then many big fishes will find their names on the list of accused. Earlier, the ED and CBI probes were frozen at a stage when the investigation officials were set to question many prominent figures, including the chief minister. The Rs 20 crore that arrived is not without the knowledge of the chief minister," Chennithala said referring to the alleged kickback in the deal.
Sivasankar had retired from the service on January 31.
The Life Mission case
The project which came under a graft cloud was linked to construction of houses for poor at Wadakkanchery in Thrissur district. The CBI had in 2020 filed an FIR in a Kochi court under section 120 B of the IPC and section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010 on a complaint by the then Wadakancherry Congress MLA, Anil Akkara, listing Santosh Eappen, the Managing Director of Unitac Builder, Kochi, as the first accused and Sane Ventures as the second accused.
The alleged FCRA violation and corruption in the Life Mission project had snowballed into a major political issue at that time with opposition parties charging that Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the gold-smuggling case, had admitted before an NIA court that she had received Rs 1 crore as commission from the project. She had reportedly claimed that the money was for Sivasankar.
Both Swapna Suresh and Sarith, another accused in the gold-smuggling case, were employed in the UAE Consulate. They were later found to have a role in Life Mission case.