Thiruvananthapuram
The Enforcement Directorate is preparing to question CM Raveendran, the additional private secretary to the Chief Minister, next week after he was discharged from hospital on Friday where he was admitted to in purported post-Covid problems.
The influential personal staff member, believed to be the crucial link between CM Pinarayi Vijayan and M Sivasankar, now an accused in the twin gold smuggling and Life Mission scams, had got himself admitted to the hospital the day he was required to present himself before the ED.
But he was discharged on the following day, after tests showed he did not have any critical health issues and needed only rest and physiotherapy, which could be done at home.
Raveendran had skipped his first appointment with ED in the beginning of this month, claiming he was down with Covid. After he was discharged from hospital and completed the required observation period, ED served a fresh notice asking him to report at ED’s Kochi office on Friday.
Raveendran’s sickness was received with much scepticism in political circles and by the central probe agencies, which held their own confidential investigation into his alleged health problems and had been working on a plan to close in on him.
It is widely believed Raveendran will be the link to the CM for possible involvement in the scams.
ED, meanwhile, conducted raids at a number of business concerns, which are considered benami operations of Raveendran, whose role is being investigated in relation to suspected money laundering using the four prestigious projects of the state government.
