Three more persons connected to the case also held

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Friday arrested former PWD Secretary T.O. Sooraj in connection with the ongoing probe into the Palarivattom flyover fiasco.

Three more persons connected to the case were also arrested. More details about these persons will be revealed soon, said a senior VACB official in Ernakulam district.

The anti-corruption agency has levelled charges that include corruption, conspiracy and misuse of funds against Mr. Sooraj and the three others, it is learnt.

The former PWD secretary was quizzed by the VACB officials here on Thursday and his arrest was recorded by Friday afternoon. He was interrogated to verify and garner evidence of irregularities in the tendering process and design.

Officials said that Mr. Sooraj was well aware of the tendering process. Moreover, the flyover’s design was accepted when he was the PWD Secretary. Technical experts had pointed out irregularities in the design too,they said.

Mr. Sooraj had denied the charges claiming that his sole association with the project was issuing a Government Order in his position as PWD Secretary, under the Sustainable and Planned Effort to Ensure Infrastructure Development (SPEEID) programme, which included the flyover project.

Moreover, the flyover’s piling began only after he was removed from the PWD Secretary post in November 2014. None of 50 other SPEEID projects suffered similar technical issues, he said.