Kerala Orders Inquiry Into Bribery Allegation Against Kumar

Kerala’s Home Department has ordered a preliminary vigilance inquiry into a contractor’s allegation that Gyanesh Kumar sought a Rs 2 crore bribe to release payments for a road project in 2006, when he was the state’s Public Works Department secretary. The inquiry will examine a fresh complaint by Sajan, and authorities are to decide whether to register a formal case after it is completed. Sajan alleges that Kumar withheld approved bills worth about Rs 17 crore for work under the Kerala State Transport Project, which was carried out by the PATIBEL consortium. According to Sajan’s complaint, project engineer Lee See Been told him that Kumar would not release the payments unless a bribe was paid. The alleged demand has not been independently established. Sajan said the delayed payments left the consortium unable to pay local contractors and suppliers. He also alleges that Lee’s death by suicide in Malaysia was connected to the dispute over the bills. Sajan’s account of the alleged demand rests on what he says Lee told him; the reports do not independently verify that conversation or establish a link between the alleged demand and Lee’s death. The Home Department’s direction...