Kochi: Keeping alive the controversy over the Safe Kerala project of the Left government, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan on Saturday alleged that corruption to the tune of Rs 100 crore was evident in the deals for installing AI-enabled traffic surveillance cameras across the state.

Satheesan, at a press meeting at the Congress office, said that the tender amount of Rs 151 crore fixed by the government-run Keltron was way above the actual costs needed for the project. He said the State Industries Department was alerted by the anomalies in the costs by a company involved in the project, but it did not bother to address the issue.

The Congress leader cited a financial proposal submitted by Trois Infotech for implementing the project to flag the alleged misappropriation of funds in the project.

The Thiruvananthapuram-based company had submitted the proposal to complete the project at a cost of Rs 57 crore to SRIT, the Bengaluru-based company which won the bidding for the project. SRIT, which subcontracted the works to two other companies -- Al Hind and Presadio --in alleged violation of the tender rules, wanted the two sub-contract firms to purchase the equipment from Trois only.

The Kozhikode-based Al-Hind, however, found the amount to be exorbitant. The company, according to the opposition leader, was of the view that the more advanced equipment could be purchased at a cheaper cost. The company went on to inform the industries department that there was no transparency in the way the rates are fixed.

Al-Hind wanted to back off from the project and get back the Rs 3 crore it had invested to get the contract for the work. "The industries department secretary however replied to Al-Hind that it had no direct involvement with the company and asked it to approach SRIT to settle the financial matters. The department was aware of the lack of transparency in the project but it did not take any action. I'm not saying the industries department or the minister (P Rajeeve) were involved in the corruption, but they could not do anything as their hands were tied," Satheesan said. The industries secretary, who sat on the letter given by Al-Hind is entrusted to probe the allegations over the project, Satheesan said.

Satheesan said when Al-Hind informed SRIT that it was backing off the project, SRIT asked the company to talk to Ramjith, the director of Presadio. "From this, it is evident that even though SRIT had won the bidding, everything was being controlled by Presadio," he said.

It is alleged that Presadio is run by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's relative Prakash Babu.

Satheesan, making the Rs 100-cr corruption charge, questioned the rationale behind issuing the tender for Rs 151 crore when a company involved in it had suggested it could be completed for less than Rs 50 crore.

Questions over CM's kin's role
Satheesan reiterated the allegations that Prakash Babu was behind the lobbying for the project.

"Minister Rajeeve yesterday dared us to present the evidence that Prakash Babu was a part of the talks regarding the project. Presadio's owner Surendrakumar has not denied Prakash Babu attending the first meeting of the consortium (SRIT-Al-Hind-Presadio). Prakash Babu did not only attend the meeting but also spoke for most of the time. He termed it a dream project and said that they can implement the project in other states as well once they complete it in Kerala. The opposition wants to ask if companies that were part of the consortium and lost their money met Prakash Babu seeking compensation. Rajeeve or any other minister can answer us," Satheesan said. He said he would present evidence of Prakash Babu's attendance in the meeting if there's an investigation into the deal. The Congress has been demanding a judicial probe into the allegations.

The ruling CPM on Friday strongly defended CM Vijayan, who is under attack from the opposition Congress over the alleged corruption.

Senior CPM leader and former minister A K Balan said the CM was not reacting to the allegations against him as a vigilance probe and an administrative-level inquiry are already underway into the issue.

However, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, who had first raised corruption charges against the project, rejected Balan's claim that a vigilance probe is underway in the AI camera project.

"Balan said that a vigilance probe is going on. What vigilance probe? The said probe is based on a complaint by someone against a retired government official who was a former transport commissioner," he said. Apart from this, no probe is going on against anything related to the AI cameras.