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A special PMLA court on Monday further sent the former Principal Secretary to Kerala Chief Minister's Office, M Sivasankar, to four-day custody of Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the LIFE Mission Scam Case.
Earlier, on February 15, Sivasankar was sent to five days of ED custody till today. Today, the court directed the ED to produce Sivasankar again at 2.30 pm on February 25 at the same court. His arrest is the first in the case, pertaining to the state government's LIFE Mission project, which intended to provide homes to the poor who lost their houses in the floods of 2018. The housing project was proposed at Vaddakanchery in the Thrissur district. The project intended to build houses for 140 families in Vadakkanchery by spending Rs 14.50 crore out of Rs 18.50 crore granted by the Red Crescent via the UAE consulate. The contract noted the construction of a health care centre using the remaining amount. The ED claimed that Sivasankar (60) and others made undue monetary gains in the form of kickbacks in awarding the contract for the construction of the houses under the LIFE Mission scheme. Santhosh Eapan, the managing director of UNITAC, the construction firm selected for the construction of the houses under the LIFE Mission project had informed ED that the accused in the case including Swapna Suresh had received a bribe worth Rs 4.48 crore for the project. Other accused in the case- Swapna Suresh and Sarith PS - have alleged that Sivasankar had a role in this Sivasankar retired from service in January this year. The former bureaucrat was arrested by the Customs Department in October 2020 on charges of smuggling gold from Dubai using the diplomatic channel. It had come to light after 30 kg of gold worth Rs 14.82 crore smuggled in a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by the Customs in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5, 2019. He was released on bail later. (ANI)
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