Life Mission scam case: ED arrests M Sivasankar former Principal Secretary
Kochi, February 15: On late Tuesday night, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested M Sivasankar, the former Principal Secretary at the Chief Minister’s office, in connection with the Wadakkancherry LIFE Mission corruption case. The arrest was made after 12-hour continuous grilling.
For the past three days the investigation was on and they questioned Sivasankar. The officials decided to record the arrest as the former bureaucrat was not co-operating with the interrogation. He will be produced before the Special Court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act Cases on Wednesday.
Besides Sivasankar, Unitac Builders MD Santhosh Eapen was also questioned in the case. Earlier, Sivasankar was in jail for over 90 days after he was arrested by the ED and Customs in the 2020 gold smuggling case.
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The case pertains to the state government's LIFE Mission project, the scam intends to build houses for 140 families in Wadakkanchery in Thrissur district through the LIFE Mission scheme by spending ₹ 14.50 crore out of ₹ 18.50 crore granted by the Red Crescent via the UAE consulate. The funds were provided by UAE Red Crescent for the construction of apartments in the wake of the 2018 Kerala floods.
According to reports, it is alleged that Sivasankar and UAE Consul General had received kickbacks from Unitac Builders for awarding the contract. The corruption then came to lime-light after former UAE Consulate employees Swapna Suresh and Sarith P S were arrested by ED and Customs in the gold smuggling case.
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- With inputs from agencies
