The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has asked M. Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to appear before it for interrogation here on Thursday in connection with the alleged corruption and irregularities in receiving foreign aid for the LIFE Mission housing project at Wadakkanchery.
He has been asked to appear at the CBI office here at 10.30 a.m. The case relates to the assistance running into crores by the UAE Red Crescent associating with the Kerala government’s LIFE Mission. Santhosh Eappen, managing director of Unitac Builders which carried out the construction work of the apartment, is the first accused in the case.
Allegedly, of the ₹18.50 crore granted for the construction of 140 apartments for the homeless, only ₹14.50 crore was used and the rest was diverted as kickbacks. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) had earlier indicted Mr. Sivasankar for allegedly accepting a sizeable sum as bribe from a builder for nudging a government construction contract in his direction.
In a court filing, the VACB stated that he had persuaded officials of the LIFE Mission to award the contract to construct 144 apartments for the homeless poor in Thrissur to the business person.
The CBI had earlier interrogated Swapna Suresh and P. S. Sarith, accused in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case, as part of the probe into the LIFE Mission case.
