Kochi: ED notice to chartered account Venugopal in Life Mission case. He is instructed to appear at the Kochi office tomorrow. Sivashankar and Venugopal will be interrogated together. Locker for Swapna was started with the help of Venugopal. The ED had found that it was Sivashankar who had given the instructions.
Venugopal has been instructed to appear at the Kochi office to overcome Sivashankar’s non-cooperation. Meanwhile, the questioning of M Sivashankar, former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister in the black money case in the bribery transaction, will continue today. Sivashankar was remanded in the custody of Ernakulam CBI Court ED for five days yesterday. ED reports that Sivashankar was the main planner in getting the Life Mission contract to Unitac. But Sivashankar has not yet confessed during the interrogation. ED is trying to clarify the findings against Sivashankar. ED is also probing whether more high-ranking people are involved in the case.
The ED recorded the arrest of former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister M Sivashankar last day after a three-day long interrogation. Sivashankar was taken to Ernakulam General Hospital at around 10.30 am yesterday and underwent a medical examination. The medical examination lasted for one and a half hours.
The court has laid down certain criteria for questioning in cases where physical problems are reported. The instructions are that a break should be allowed after two hours of questioning, and medical assistance should be provided in case of physical difficulty during the break. The ED told the court that Sivashankar was not cooperating with the investigation and often fasted without eating. Although a 10-day custody application was given, Sivashankar was released in custody till the 20th of this month.
Swapna Suresh’s statement after finding Rs 1 crore in the locker was crucial in the arrest of M Sivashankar. Swapna’s statement was that this was bribe money received by Shiva Shankar. A detailed interrogation was based on this.
ED has found that a black money transaction of 3 crore 38 lakhs has taken place in the case. A bribe of Rs 59 lakh was given to Sandeep and Sarith. ED says that the money was given to Sandeep through the bank account and there are records of this. Yadukrishnan, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, has also been implicated. It was Yadukrishnan who introduced Unitac Company to Sarith. ED found that Yadukrishnan had received a bribe of three lakhs.