KOCHI: The officials of the vigilance team were shocked when their decisive move to arrest former minister Ebrahim Kunju in the Palarivattom corruption case got leaked. The team reached his house Wednesday morning hoping to arrest him. A secret plan was prepared yesterday. Special care was taken not to let the media know about the arrest.

Meantime, the investigating team suspect that the former minister may have gone straight to Lakeshore Hospital when the information reached his ears. He was secretly admitted in the hospital last evening. He had informed the vigilance about his ailments in the beginning of the probe. Tests related to this have been going on at Lakeshore Hospital for quite some time. However, top officials believe that the unexpected move by Ebrahim Kunju to get admitted in the hospital yesterday was due to the information of arrest.

The vigilance team reached his house this morning. They reached his house to arrest him, but his wife informed them that he is in the hospital. His wife was alone in the hospital.

Without believing his wife’s statement, the vigilance team along with the local police checked his house. A large contingent of police have been deployed all around the house. The Lakeshore Hospital had confirmed that he was admitted in the hospital last evening. One team has left to the hospital.