Kerala reopens probe against Gyanesh Kumar in 2006 graft case

Keralam home minister Ramesh Chennithala has ordered a vigilance enquiry into allegations of corruption in the KSTP road work project and the death of a Malaysian contractor associated with it in 2006, when Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was serving as the Public Works Department (PWD) secretary in the state. The enquiry has been ordered on a complaint filed by Malayankeezhu Venugopal, who mentioned Kumar allegedly committed criminal misconduct in connection with the award of public works to contractors while he was PWD secretary.
Besides allegations of corruption, the wider matter also pertains to the 2006 suicide of Malaysian civil engineer Lee See Been, who was associated with the Indo-Malaysian Joint Venture PATI-BEL.The complaint has also sought an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Lee’s death, and the allegations reportedly contained in his suicide note. According to Venugopal’s complaint, the earlier Vigilance enquiries were closed abruptly, and the allegations were not properly pursued. The consortium was involved in the upgrade of MC Road – a 240-kilometre-long state highway connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Angamaly – under the Keralam State Transport Project (KSTP). 
Chennithala has directly instructed the Director of Keralam's Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to conduct a thorough probe into allegations of external influence in the case, the Home Minister's Office said. According to the Congress-led UDF government of Keralam, the allegations against Kumar include criminal misconduct in awarding public works to contractors while he was PWD Secretary.
Speaking on the fresh probe ordered by him, Chennithala on Sunday referred to the purported mention of Kumar's name in Been's suicide note, saying, "The government cannot sit idle. I cannot become a mute spectator." Though the Keralam minister asserted that Kumar was acting as a "tool" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he insisted that the investigation was not meant to be a form of political vendetta.