Ex-Kerala CMO principal secy named as fifth accused in life mission scam case

Thiruvananthapuram: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has named M Sivasankar, former principal secretary of Kerala Chief Minister’s Office, as the fifth accused in the Wadakkanchery life mission scam case.

The bureau submitted a report in a special vigilance court in Thiruvananthapuram here on Monday, in which it revealed that M Sivasankar was named as the fifth accused while Swapna Suresh, Sarith PS and Sandeep Nair were named as the sixth, seventh and eighth accused in the case.

Meanwhile, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau is questioning Swapna Suresh in Attakkulangara jail in connection with the life mission scam case today.

The case pertains to spending the foreign fund against the purpose, for which it was aimed. Congress MLA Anil Akkara had earlier alleged that various middlemen including state representatives and government officials received huge sums of money as commission for implementing the project.

Sivasankar, who is currently under the custody of the Enforcement Directorate, is also accused in a case related to the smuggling of gold into the state through diplomatic channels, which is also being probed by the National Investigation Agency and the Customs department.