Keralam govt firm on graft probe against Gyanesh

Thiruvananthapuram: Keralam Public Works Department Minister PK Basheer on Thursday stressed the need for a fresh probe into allegations of corruption in the MC Road project undertaken nearly two decades ago, when Gyanesh Kumar, the present Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), was the Public Works Department (PWD) secretary in the state.

The minister said the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) had earlier investigated the allegations, including a charge that PWD officials had demanded Rs 2 crore to clear bills submitted by companies contracted for road development works. However, the investigation files were reportedly closed without the probe being fully completed.

The state, therefore, intends to take further action after a detailed review of the earlier investigation report, he said. Basheer alleged corruption by officials in the road project caused a loss of Rs 700 crore to the government exchequer. He said the fresh inquiry was ordered because there were certain discrepancies in the earlier probe, the VACB conducted into the project in 2006. Basheer was responding to queries, during the question hour in the Assembly by BJP MLAs B B Gopakumar, V Muraleedharan and Rajeev Chandrasekhar regarding the status of the vigilance probe initiated in the matter. In 2006, the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) undertook a World Bank-funded project worth Rs 215 crore to reconstruct the MC Road from Angamaly to Thiruvananthapuram.

PATI-BEL, a joint venture between a Malaysian firm and Bhageeratha Engineering, was awarded the project. A Malaysian company carried out the work. Its project engineer, Lee See Been, allegedly raised several complaints during construction before returning to Malaysia, where he died by suicide.

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