The investigation into the high profile Titanium graft case in Kerala which involves former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and former Industry minister Ebrahim Kunju, has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on the recommendation of the state government.
The 2006 case relates to irregularities in setting up of an effluent treatment plant worth Rs 256 crore, in the state-owned Travancore Titanium Products Ltd. As per reports, huge corruption had taken place during the work of setting up the pollution control plant at the Titanium factory.
As per a report by Manoramaonline, the Vigilance Department which was in charge of probing the case, had found that there was corruption of Rs 66 crore involved in setting up of the plant. A preliminary investigation was conducted into the case soon after allegations were raised by the Vigilance Department in 2006.
The Vigilance Department had also sought help from international agencies in the probe due to the involvement of foreign companies, as various equipments for the effluent treatment plant were purchased from firms based in Britain and Finland.
According to a report by the Times of India (ToI), one of the allegations was also that the contract for purchasing the equipment for the plant was handed over to certain foreign companies without inviting a global tender.
The decision to set up the effluent treatment plant was taken at a time when Oommen Chandy was the CM of Kerala and Ebrahim Kunju was the Industries Minister of the state. According to a report by Asianet News, it was found during the investigation that the then Kerala government under Oommen Chandy had handed over money to the companies for the second phase of construction of the plant, even before the first phase was over.