KOCHI: While concluding his argument in the LIFE Mission housing project case in the Kerala High Court on Thursday, the counsel for the CBI reproduced Jagathy Sreekumar’s iconic dialogue from the movie Oru CBI Diary Kurippu to emphasise that the agency knows what it’s doing. “The meaning of CBI is not Central Bureau of Idiots, it is Central Bureau of Investigation,” the counsel reminded the state government. During the hearing, CBI informed HC that there was a discreet ‘underbelly operation’ involving notorious smugglers and government officers in the LIFE Mission housing project transactions.
The deals behind the project need to be exposed, the national agency said. The Memorandum of Understanding between UAE agency Red Crescent and Unitac, which is constructing the LIFE Mission housing complex at Wadakkanchery, was nothing but an eyewash, it said. “The money came from the consul-general’s account and not from the Red Crescent.
There was nothing to show that there was any transfer of money from Red Crescent. The MoU was used by Unitac, LIFE Mission officers and persons hiding behind the curtains to ensure that the court did not see the real transactions and the crime involved in the illega l transactions, ” CBI submitted. The agency made the submission when petitions filed by the LIFE Mission and the managing director of Unitac, Santhosh Eapen, came up for hearing.
CBI raises questions, govt blames Anil Akkara
Citing the deposition of Eapen, CBI said the company representatives initially met Sandeep Nair, an accused in the gold smuggling case, in Thiruvananthapuram to discuss the project, at which point the “conspiracy” in the case started. After two weeks, Unitac sought advance payment and a direct meeting with UAE consulate officials at its office. That happened on July 31, much before the signing of the agreement. Unitac gave a portion of the foreign contribution to Swapna Suresh, Sarith P S and UAE consulate official Khalid, which points to a violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), CBI submitted.
The agency asked how Sandeep got the project details like the plan and drawing prepared by Habitat Builders -- the consultant for the project -- which Unitac later submitted to LIFE Mission as its own. The state government said a Congress MLA (Anil Akkara) dragged LIFE Mission into a controversy after raising a complaint with CBI against Unitac and Sane Ventures.
“His real target is the government. And the CBI happily registered an FIR. If the FIR is an abuse of the process of law, the state can challenge it. The government has to support the officials involved in humanitarian efforts. A Vigilance enquiry is going on with respect to allegations under the Prevention of Corruption Act and an FIR was registered. That will continue unabated,” the state argued. Anil Akkara’s lawyer contended that the agreement of Unitac is with the Consulate General of the UAE and that the Consulate General had no authorisation to represent Red Crescent.
ED chargesheet puts UAE Consulate in dock
Kochi: The chargesheet filed by the ED has put the UAE Consulate in the dock as it reveals commission deals made by diplomats. In her statement on the LIFE Mission project, Swapna Suresh told the agency that the consul-general himself had got commission
Directors of Unitac, Sane Ventures met Sivasankar, Swapna tells ED
High-level intervention forced Habitat to withdraw from the project, says chairman
Sivasankar under CBI scanner