KOLLAM: The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government is all set to bring back an official who has been kept out of the system for facing corruption charges and is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It is understood that K.A. Ratheesh, the second accused in the corruption case that shook the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC) involving more than Rs 500 crore, which is presently being inquired by the CBI, is being appointed as managing director Kerala Automobiles Ltd (KAL), a public sector company. The industries department has cleared his name and the order would be issued soon, it is learnt.
Mr Ratheesh had served as managing director of KSCDC for about 10 years and is now facing inquiry on corruption in the cashew deals during his tenure at the corporation. He is also an accused in two other cases being inquired by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau: one is for accumulating wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income and the other for a cashew deal in 2015. The UDF government had appointed had removed him as KSCDC managing director and appointed as the director of Kerala Institute for Entrepreneurship Development (KIED) at Kalamassery after the CBI has included him in the list of accused in the cashew scam. He was later relieved from that post, too, by then industries minister E.P. Jayarajan when the vigilance included him as an accused in June 2016.
