Kochi, Mar 7 (IANS): C.M. Raveendran, Additional Private Secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, arrived at the Enforcement Directorate office here on Tuesday for questioning in the LIFE Mission bribery case.

Raveendran, one of the closest aides of the chief minister, was summoned earlier on February 27, but he expressed his inability citing his busy schedule owing to the Kerala Assembly session. Since the Assembly has a holiday on Tuesday, on account of a local temple festival in the state capital city, he was called today.

As soon as Raveendran's vehicle arrived at the ED office, the media rushed to him, but he just waved his hands and walked inside.

Former bureaucrat and Raveendran's colleague in the CM's office during 2016-21, M.Sivasankar is currently undergoing imprisonment in Kochi. He was arrested by the ED in the same case following allegations by the prime accused in the gold smuggling case and also in the LIFE Mission case- Swapna Suresh.

When the scam first came to light in 2020, Raveendran denied knowing Swapna and was let off after questioning by the ED. But after Sivasankar's arrest, intimate chat messages between Swapna and Raveendran surfaced last week bringing him under heavy attack from the netizens who also flayed the CPI(M) over its "hypocritical" stand.

And now with Raveendran appearing before the ED, all eyes are on the central agency's next move.