Thiruvananthapuram | Keralam Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday said political disagreement was not the basis for the vigilance probe into the corruption allegations in the KSTP road work project of 2006 when incumbent CEC Gyanesh Kumar was serving as the PWD secretary in the state.
Chennithala, in an X post, said that a specific complaint concerning the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) of 2006 was placed before the state government and it deserved to be examined.
In 2006, a World Bank-funded project worth Rs 215 crore was undertaken by the KSTP for the reconstruction of the MC Road from Angamaly to Thiruvananthapuram.
PATI-BEL, a joint venture between the Malaysian firm and Bhageeratha Engineering, had undertaken the project.
A Malaysian company undertook the work, while its project engineer, Lee See Been, allegedly raised several complaints during the construction and later returned to Malaysia, where he died by suicide.
"Political disagreement is not the basis of this inquiry. A specific complaint concerning the 2006 KSTP matter has been placed before the government. It deserves examination on its own merits. Let vigilance follow the evidence and establish the facts," the minister said in his post.
Opposing the action, the BJP a day ago had demanded that Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader M K Muneer also be investigated as part of the vigilance probe into the corruption allegations in the 2006 KSTP road work project as he was the PWD Minister at that time.
Chennithala had ordered the probe after Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) leader Malayinkeezhu Venugopal filed a complaint seeking an investigation against Gyanesh Kumar.
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has been directed to conduct a preliminary investigation before deciding on further action against Kumar.
The BJP has also accused Chennithala of selectively interpreting the law by targeting an "inconvenient CEC" but not taking any action against former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
