Kochi: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has informed the Kerala High Court that many top politicians are involved in the Palarivattom flyover scam.
The vigilance revealed this crucial information while opposing the bail plea of Sumit Goyal, Managing Director of RDS projects, which built the faulty flyover.
Vigilance told the court that Sumit is the kingpin of the scam, but he has not revealed the names of top politicians suspected to be involved in the scam. “If Sumit gets bail, he will prevent investigators from collecting evidence,” the vigilance argued.
According to the Vigilance, the mobilization fund allotted to build the flyover was diverted through RDS Projects. Investigators also found that the firm was deep in financial trouble while taking up the Palarivattom project. The advance amount allotted by Kerala Government was, in fact, used to repay the company’s debts and not for the flyover construction. This naturally led to shoddy work, the Vigilance told the court. Evidence of bribes paid to several people, including political leaders, was obtained from Goyal’s laptop, added Vigilance.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the top politician targeted by Vigilance is the former Public Works Department (PWD) Minister V K Ibrahim Kunju and officials are preparing to question him again this week. The questionnaire is ready and the necessary legal advice has been sought.
Earlier, former PWD secretary T O Sooraj had stated that the order to release the advance amount without interest to RDS Projects was issued by the then PWD minister 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.
Sooraj further alleged that the former minister rejected his demand to levy seven per cent interest from the construction firm. The former PWD secretary also said that these points were mentioned in a file, which was signed by the then minister.
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.
