The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Thursday raided the residence of former Health Minister and Congress legislator V.S. Sivakumar.
The agency has indicted him for illegal amassment of wealth. It has also accused him of having squirrelled away the ill-gotten wealth in the name of benamis during his period in office between 2011-16.
The raid came days after Governor Arif Mohammad Khan gave the nod to prosecute Mr. Sivakumar on the charge of ‘enriching himself’ illicitly. The inspections also simultaneously targeted the houses of four of Mr. Sivakumar's ‘close associates.’
The VACB had accused them of having acquired prime real estate using improperly accumulated wealth, fronting themselves for Mr. Sivakumar.
‘To divert attention’
The Congress has termed the "intrusive examination" a political witch hunt. It said the government wanted to divert public attention from the high-level police corruption flagged by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in his report tabled in the Assembly recently in the run-up to the local body elections.
Mr. Sivakumar said the VACB had verified the allegations in 2016 and found them to be false. However, beset by corruption charges, the government had resurrected the false accusations against him. Mr. Sivakumar is now the third Minister in the Oommen Chandy government to face anti-corruption inquiry under the current disposition.
The VACB had earlier charge-sheeted former Excise Minister K. Babu in an amassment of wealth case. The agency had last Saturday questioned former PWD Minister and IUML legislator V.K. Ebrahim Kunju on the charge of financially favouring the firm responsible for the shoddy construction of the now decommissioned flyover at Palarivattom in Kochi.
A parallel investigation is on by the Crime Branch against a galaxy of top Congress leaders in Kerala on the charge of seeking sexual favours from the woman accused of cheating in the solar scam case that rocked the Chandy government in 2013.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate is examining whether there is a money-laundering angle in the ongoing anti-corruption probes.
