Keralam vigilance probe into road project linked to CEC ongoing: Minister

Mangalore Today News Network

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 29, 2026: Kerala Public Works Department Minister P K Basheer on Thursday said a preliminary inquiry ordered by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) into alleged corruption in a road project undertaken nearly two decades ago, when Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar was the PWD secretary, was still underway. The report has not yet been received.

The minister was responding to questions raised during the question hour in the state Assembly by BJP MLAs B B Gopakumar, V Muraleedharan and Rajeev Chandrasekhar regarding the status of the vigilance inquiry.

Basheer said the preliminary inquiry was ordered after certain discrepancies were found in the VACB investigation conducted in 2006. He also told the Assembly that alleged irregularities by officials in connection with the project had caused a loss of ₹700 crore to the government.

The case concerns alleged corruption in the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP), undertaken in 2006 when Gyanesh Kumar was serving as the state’s Public Works Department secretary.

Under the project, a World Bank-funded contract worth ₹215 crore was awarded to reconstruct the MC Road stretch from Angamaly to Thiruvananthapuram.

The contract was awarded to PATI-BEL, a joint venture between a Malaysian firm and Bhageeratha Engineering. A Malaysian company subsequently carried out the work.

During construction, the company’s project engineer, Lee See Been, allegedly raised several complaints about the project. He later returned to Malaysia, where he died by suicide.