KOCHI: Trade union leaders cutting across the political spectrum have demanded the Union government to take action against the top honchos of Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT) facing a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) without jeopardising the revival plan for the ailing public sector unit. Meanwhile, raids continued for the second day in the residence of some of the officers of FACT on Sunday. CBI officials raided the residence of I.S. Ambika, Chief General Manager (Marketing) and her husband’s office and recovered incriminating documents. Sources said the CBI team has recovered documents regarding documents of bank deposits worth Rs 40 lakh and at least three incidents of real estate transactions.
Speaking to DC on Sunday, a day after the nationwide raids by CBI on FACT officials, including CMD Jaiveer Srivastava, CPM Ernakulam district secretary P. Rajeev said action should be taken against the guilty without hurting the interest of the company. “FACT is going through a period of transition, and the process should not be disrupted,” he said. CITU state secretary K. Chandran Pillai said stringent action should be taken against officials found guilty.
“We have zero tolerance policy towards corruption, and corrupt elements will not be allowed to eat away the vitals of the PSUs,” he said. R. Chandrasekharan state president of INTUC also expressed concern over the top management of FACT coming under a cloud of suspicion when the company is struggling for a revival. “I have discussed the matter with senior Congress leader A.K. Antony, and he also felt that CBI raids are a serious issue,” he added.
"The Union government should take action without impacting the fortunes of the company, considered as the mother of PSUs in Kerala." Aam Aadmi Party state coordinator C.R. Neelakandan called for a thorough probe into the scandal and removal of the guilty. The economic offence wing of the CBI conducted raids against a slew of FACT officials on Saturday on the allegations that the company had incurred huge losses in the sale of gypsum, a byproduct, to a private company at much lower rate than the prevailing market rates. The CBI team is expected to file a charge-sheet under Section 120b of the Prevention of Corruption Act soon.
