M Sivasankar, former principal secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday night, has been sent to  the custody of the ED for a period of  five days by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) special court in Kochi on Wednesday.

M Sivasankar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate(ED) in connection with the Wadakkancherry LIFE mission graft case on Friday night after interrogating him for three days. He was produced before the PMLA court in Kochi on Wednesday. The court remanded him to the custody of the ED until 2.30 pm on Monday, Sivasankar has been arraigned as seventh accused in the case.

Sivasankar was in jail for 98 days in October 2020 in connection with charges related to the sensational gold smuggling case.

The UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram and the Kerala LIFE mission entered into an agreement to construct a housing complex at Wadakkancherry using the Red Crescent’s funds in 2019.

It has been alleged that Sivasankar and the UAE Consul General received kickbacks from Unitac builders for awarding the work of construction of the housing complex to them.The alleged corruption came to light after former UAE Consulate employees Swapna Suresh and Sarith PS were arrested by the ED and Customs in the gold smuggling case.

The LIFE Mission project ran into trouble in 2020 after Anil Akkara, then MLA from  Wadakkanchery filed a complaint stating that the LIFE Mission Project violated FCRA norms. His specific complaint was against the project at his constituency at Wadakkanchery.

The CBI proceeded to file an FIR pursuant to the complaint, naming Unitac’s Santhosh Eappen, Sane Ventures (another contractor), and unnamed officials of the LIFE Mission project.

Shortly after the CBI’s FIR, the LIFE Mission CEO approached the Kerala High Court seeking quashing of the investigation. Close on the heels of the LIFE Mission plea, Santhosh  Eappen also filed a writ petition praying that the investigation against him and his company be quashed.

The high court dismissed the pleas in January 2021, effectively allowing the CBI probe to continue.

Responding to the arrest of Sivasankar, Opposition leader VD Satheesan said that all the concealed corruption cases took place during the first Pinarayi Vijayan government are coming out one by one now.

Speaking to media persons in Kochi, Satheesan said the arrest of Sivasankar shows that the entire corruptions took place concentrating in the chief minister’s office.

Union Minister of State For External Affairs V Muralidharan said that the arrest of Sivasankar indicates some points, either Pinarayi Vijayan has a role in the corruptions took place under his confidant Sivasankar, or he is an incompetent chief minister who is not aware of what is happening in his office.

KPCC president K Sudhakaran said now it is the turn of big sharks. “The CM owes an explanation, he said.

Meanwhile, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh said, “Grilling of CM’s private secretary P M Raveendran will reveal everything in the Life Mission case. I am ready to go to jail again but I will expose all who made me a scapegoat.”

She alleged that that Pinarayi Vijayan, his wife Kamala and daughter Veena tried to “sell off Kerala.”