Thiruvananthapuram: The noose around Kerala chief minister's former principal secretary M Sivasankar has tightened further with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) extending its probe to Kerala government's four mega projects, apart from the graft-tainted Life Mission Project, which were monitored directly by the bureaucrat.
ED additional director P Radhakrishnan has sent a letter to the IT secretary demanding all documents including current files and notings with regard to the projects such as the K-FON, Kochi SmartCity, Taurus Downtown at the Technopark Thiruvananthapuram as well as the E-mobility initiative.
The ED is examining whether money was laundered under the cover of these projects. It is also suspecting kickbacks in real-estate deals.
Sivasankar has already given a statement saying that the five projects were conceived and monitored by him from the chief minister’s office.
In the first phase the ED is examining the tender proceedings, MoUs, land acquired for the projects, land set aside for the projects and the compensation given for land acquisition.
The officials will inquire whether real-estate lobbies had intervened in any manner under the garb of these projects. The ED has received detailed information through statements about Sivasankar and chief minister’s IT Fellow Arun Balachandran's visit to Taurus headquarters in the US.
The four mega projects
K-FON (Kerala Fibre Optic Network): An ambitious project costing Rs 1628.35 cr to provide high-speed quality internet connections free of cost to the poor and at affordable rates to others.
Taurus Downtown: 20 acres of land given on long-term lease to the US Company for the third-phase development of Technopark. Development works worth Rs 20 crore have been envisaged here as part of the project.
E-Mobility: A project to promote electric vehicles.
Kochi SmartCity: Tecom Company, Dubai, was brought back to restart the discussions on the revival of the project. Sivasakar has given a statement that Swapna Suresh in her capacity as secretary to UAE Consul General had extended immense help for this purpose.
