National/Alive News: The complaint was filed by contractor Sajan, a resident of Kollam district, with the Vigilance Department. He has alleged that Kumar demanded ₹2 crore to release payments for work completed under the Keralam State Transport Project (KSTP), when he was serving as the state’s Public Works Department (PWD) secretary.
According to the complaint, engineers had approved bills worth around ₹17 crore, but the payment cheques were allegedly withheld. This reportedly created financial difficulties for Malaysian company PATI-BEL, its contractors and employees.
Sajan claimed that the company’s project engineer, Lee See Been, told him that Kumar was refusing to release the payments without a bribe. Sajan said he offered to arrange the money, but company officials refused to pay. Lee later arranged funds from another company project in Bengaluru to clear the pending payments to contractors and employees.
Contractor Links Engineer’s 2006 Suicide to Alleged Bribery Demand
Sajan has also linked Lee See Been’s suicide in 2006 to the alleged bribery demand and delayed payments. He claimed that Lee had named Gyanesh Kumar in his suicide note. According to Sajan, Lee’s family members in Malaysia had also informed company employees about the note.
The contractor further alleged that an earlier Vigilance investigation did not question him or other people who were familiar with the matter.
Sajan has offered to provide the investigating authorities with the contact details of Lee’s family members in Malaysia, former company employees and other witnesses.
The allegations date back nearly two decades and will now be examined as part of the investigation. No conclusion has been established regarding the claims at this stage.
