KOCHI: Former minister K Babu failed to appear before the Special Cell of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) for giving his statement in the case related to the alleged amassment of wealth disproportionate to the source of income on Tuesday owing to health reasons.The investigation team had last week served a notice on Babu asking him to appear at the VACB office at Pullepady on Tuesday as part of recording his statement.
According to a VACB officer, Babu informed the investigation team about his inability to appear as per the notice served on him. “He told the investigating officer over the phone on Monday he cannot appear on Tuesday due to health issues. We will wait for a couple of days to observe his health condition and will issue a fresh notice later,” he said.
The probe into the case was completed and a report in this regard was submitted before the Vigilance Director last month. However, Babu filed a petition to the Home Secretary requesting to record his fresh statement. Babu claimed he has to provide some extra information which he had not revealed to the investigating officer earlier.
The petition was then forwarded to the Vigilance Director and a decision was taken to record Babu’s statement again before filing chargesheet against him.The VACB has decided to file the chargesheet against K Babu excluding the co-accused Baburam and Mohanan. The case was registered against Babu in 2016 on an allegation that he amassed wealth illegally and money was invested using benamis.