Vigilance probe against CEC Gyanesh Kumar in connection with 2006 road project ongoing: Kerala minister

Thiruvananthapuram: Keralam Public Works Department Minister P K Basheer on Thursday said a preliminary inquiry by the VACB ordered in connection with allegations of corruption in a road project undertaken two decades ago when CEC Gyanesh Kumar was the PWD secretary was ongoing and its report is not yet available.

Basheer was responding to queries, during the question hour in the state Assembly, by BJP MLAs B B Gopakumar, V Muraleedharan and Rajeev Chandrasekhar regarding the status of the vigilance probe initiated in the matter.

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The minister also said that the preliminary enquiry was ordered as there were certain discrepancies in the probe conducted into the matter in 2006 by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB).

He also told the House that a loss of Rs 700 crore was caused to the government due to the alleged irregularities committed by officials in connection with the project.

The minister was referring to the alleged corruption in the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP), undertaken in 2006 when Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar was serving as Public Works Department secretary.

In 2006, the KSTP undertook a World Bank-funded project worth Rs 215 crore to reconstruct the MC Road from Angamaly to Thiruvananthapuram.

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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.