KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested M Sivasankar, the former Principal Secretary at the Chief Minister’s office, in connection with the Wadakkancherry LIFE Mission corruption case. The arrest was recorded late Tuesday night after 12-hour continuous grilling.
The investigation agency had questioned Sivasankar for the past three days. Officials decided to record the arrest after the former bureaucrat refused to cooperate with the interrogation. He will be produced before the Special Court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act Cases on Wednesday.
Besides Sivasankar, Unitac Builders MD Santhosh Eapen was also questioned in the case. Earlier, Sivasankar was in jail for over 90 days after he was arrested by the ED and Customs in the 2020 gold smuggling case.
The Wadakkancherry LIFE Mission case pertains to the alleged diversion of funds provided by UAE Red Crescent for the construction of apartments in the wake of the 2018 Kerala floods. The UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram and Kerala Life Mission entered into an agreement to construct a housing complex using the Red Crescent’s funds at Wadakkancherry in 2019.
It is alleged that Sivasankar and UAE Consul General had received kickbacks from Unitac Builders for awarding the contract. The alleged corruption came to light after former UAE Consulate employees Swapna Suresh and Sarith P S were arrested by ED and Customs in the gold smuggling case.