Former Kerala minister VK Ebrahim Kunju has been arrested in a case of corruption. (Representational)
Thiruvananthapuram:
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau have recorded the arrest of VK Ebrahim Kunju, a minister in Kerala’s former ruling dispensation, United Democratic Front (UDF) which was led by the Congress.
Mr Kunju would be taken in custody after he is discharged from a private hospital in state’s Ernakulam district where he is undergoing treatment, officials, who first reached his home Wednesday morning, told news agency PTI.
The legislator is an accused in a corruption case related to the construction of Palarivattom Flyover in the state’s Ernakulam district.
The flyover is located at a busy intersection crucial for intra-city travel in Ernakulam.
The current Left Democratic Front (LDF) government decommissioned the flyover and started dismantling it in September 2019 after cracks were reported in the structure – three years after its inauguration in 2016. The flyover is now being rebuilt based on recommendations by experts.
Though the flyover was inaugurated under the existing LDF government, majority of it was built during the former UDF government when Oommen Chandy was the chief minister.
Former IAS officer TO Sooraj, among the various people arrested in this case, had alleged that all files related to flyover construction were cleared by the then-minister Ibrahim Kunju.
“The advance fund was transferred to the builders based on recommendations of the Managing Director of the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation Kerala. The recommendations had passed through five different officials and were approved by the Minister,” Mr Sooraj had told the media in September last year.
The Left Democratic Front Convenor A Vijayraghavan has countered the allegation saying that the arrest was not sudden. “Former minister Ebrahim Kunju had been named an accused earlier itself. The probe has been underway,” he said.
