KOCHI: The Palakkad unit of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) here on Monday arrested the legal advisor of state-owned Malabar Cements Prakash Joseph after summoning him to its office for questioning in graft cases. However, the VACB let him off on bail after a few hours citing that they could collect all the details from him. The arrest was regarding the withdrawal of Rs 52.8 lakh deposit given to the state-owned company by a firm owned by controversial businessman V.M. Radhakrishnan and its withdrawal without the knowledge of the company officials.
The firm had withdrawn the mandatory security amount deposited at a bank without the knowledge of Malabar Cements officials, violating an agreement with the PSU. The legal officer allegedly misinformed about the legal action to be taken by Malabar Cements and the company lost the case over the matter suffering financial loss, Vigilance DySP M. Sukumaran said. The arrest was a continuation of the probe into the graft cases in which the former managing director of the company was arrested and remanded for questioning in September last year. Former deputy manager G. Venugopal was arrested last week after he was summoned for questioning over graft cases. He, too, was let off on bail.
