After Enforcement Directorate served its third notice to CM Raveendran, the additional private secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to appear at their office in Kochi on December 10, he was admitted to a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram again on Tuesday. He sought treatment complaining of fatigue and headache in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College hospital.
This is the third time ED has given him a notice to appear for questioning over the money laundering case attached to Kerala's sensational gold smuggling case. Raveendran had tested positive for the novel coronavirus a day after ED served him the first notice. Later when he turned negative, a second notice was issued to him on November 25, but just few hours after that he was hospitalized. He had complained of breathing problems. Then on December 5 he got the third notice from the agency.
The third notice was served after ED sought details of Raveendran's property from the department of registration. Prior to that, the agency had conducted many raids in Kozhikode district, where Raveendran hails from, reportedly to find out his connections with few business organizations.
As per some reports, doctors have said that Raveendran has neurological disorders which have to treated immediately.
Raveendran was considered very close to the CPI(M) party abd had served key positions during different LDF governments. When he got admitted to the hospital for the second time there were reports that the party leadership had sent him a message to appear before the agency and not cause any unnecessary delay.
Though there are allegations over political motives behind Raveendran's questioning, CPI(M) leaders have maintained that the case will not affect the party.