KOCHI: The Vigilance has submitted a report in the high court, stating that there was involvement of top political leaders in conspiracy that led to the corruption in the construction of Palarivattom flyover, which had to be closed for repair works even before it completed its third year.

The Vigilance said in the report that first accused and MD of construction company RDS Sumit Goel knew who those political leaders were. The Vigilance also defied Sumit’s bail plea.

The Vigilance informed the court that Sumit Goel was scared to disclose the names of those political leaders who had taken bribe. “If bail is granted to Sumit Goel, other accused having political influence will escape. Moreover, his bank accounts are being examined,” the report said.
The court will on Tuesday consider the bail application of four people including Goel.

The stone-laying ceremony of Palarivattom flyover had taken place in 2014, during the tenure of Oommen Chandy as the chief minister.

The plan was to construct the flyover within two years, at an estimated cost of Rs 72 crore.

After Pinarayi Vijayan came to power, the work was completed in October, 2016 and it was opened to the public. The construction cost was 41.27 crore. Out of that only Rs 34 crore was handed over to the contractor. The rest amount was not given as defects were spotted in the construction. The contract had been awarded to RDS Construction Company. In order to avoid tolls, the government, had kept National highway authority off the project and handed over the charge of construction to Kerala Bridges and Corporation, which awarded the contract to the RDS company.