Thiruvananthapuram: The State government approved the construction of a building complex in Wadakkanchery in Thrissur in violation of rules and regulations. There were allegations that Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh secured a commission of Rs 1 crore in the contract.
The government entered into the said contract with Red Crescent, UAE, even as the Life Mission was tasked with the work. The state had also not sought the permission of the External Affairs Ministry for the foreign-partnered project. Anil Akkara, MLA, sent a letter to the Ministry in this regard.
The building is coming up on 217 cents of land owned by the Wadakkanchery municipality. The Habitat group prepared a plan to construct 199 houses.
The empowered committee of the government, headed by the Chief Secretary, gave an administrative nod to the project. It was estimated to cost Rs.13.09 crore and the plan number was 4417-60-051-95. The empowered committee also instructed the Local-self Government Department to go ahead before July 15.
Even after all this, on July 11, the Red Crescent reached an agreement with the Chief Minister to start construction. The Chief Minister had stated that Rs.14 crore was for the building complex and Rs.6 crore for a hospital building. The empowered committee had not met or discussed this, sources said. The Life Mission also refused to comment on this. There are no documents in this regard on the Life Mission site.
Statement recorded
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) recorded the statement of Unitech owner Santhosh Eappen who had alleged given Swapna Suresh the Rs 1 crore commission for securing the Wadakkanchery contract.
Santhosh told the NIA that he came in touch with Swapna Nair through another accused in the gold smuggling case, Sandeep Nair. Thiruvananthapuram-native Yadu facilitated the meeting and the NIA would take Yadu’s statement too.
Sandeep said he had discussed securing the project with Swapna and Sandeep. He said he had not met any government official. Santhosh had stated that Swapna asked for the amount and ‘that had been given.’
The NIA had seized Rs.one crore from the bank locker of Swapna Nair. She had stated that it was the commission from the Life Mission project.
The Enforcement Directorate and the Customs too were tracing the origin of the Rs.one crore seized from the bank locker.
The gold smuggling case came to light when the Customs made a 30-kg gold seizure at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on July 5. The consignment arrived at the airport on June 30.
After this, the investigating agencies have been tracing inbound consignments to ascertain if more gold had come in previously. Also, the NIA was looking if the gold was converted into money and then used to fund terror activities, including recruitment, in the country.
