Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan on Saturday welcomed an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe against him in the alleged irregularities in the Punarjani rehabilitation project for flood victims.
Talking to the media here on Saturday, he said he would cooperate with the investigation by the Central agency.
“It is natural that the ED would probe a case in which the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) had conducted a preliminary inquiry,” he said.
Mr. Satheesan had launched the Punarjani project to house the families displaced by the floods in 2018 in his constituency Paravur in Ernakulam district. The VACB recently initiated a probe against him based on a complaint of FCRA violations and his foreign trips seeking support for the project.
Mr. Satheesan asserted that the VACB had no jurisdiction to investigate the allegations in the complaint against him. “It is the ED that is empowered to investigate cases of FCRA violation. The same complainants had approached the ED three years ago following which the agency had checked all the accounts,” he said.
“The State government knew very well that the ED would come into the picture if the Vigilance investigated the case. Their intention was to bring me before the Central agency,” he alleged.
“I will cooperate with the ED investigation. This will hopefully put an end to the speculations and accusations against me on various platforms including cyberspace,” Mr. Satheesan said, adding that he would submit all the documents to the Central agency to prove that the allegations against him were false and fabricated.
Replying to questions, he said there was the option of seeking judicial intervention if the ED probe was found to be on the wrong track.
