Following the incident, Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan Wednesday said a probe would be held to ascertain the lapses of the officials in ensuring flood relief for Sanil.

The CPI(M) has suspended a local leader in Kerala’s Ernakulam district after accusations emerged of his having pocketed the financial aid meant for victims of the floods that devastated the state last year.

CPI(M) local committee member M M Anwar has allegedly pocketed Rs 10.54 lakh with the help of a Revenue Department official. Anwar is absconding, while police arrested clerk Vishnu Prasad on Tuesday.

According to police, Prasad had transferred flood relief to Anwar’s account in three installments. Anwar was not eligible for financial assistance as he was not affected by the floods.

“Probe is going on and we have found that the arrested revenue official, who had worked in the disaster management wing, had transferred the aid to several other ineligible persons, including politicians. We have come across another CPI (M) leader who is also involved in the scandal after his wife got the assistance in her bank account. Apart from the two, another person named Mahesh, a friend of Anwar, is also involved,’’ said police sources.

According to the police, Prasad had obtained the user name and password of the Ernakulam additional district magistrate to commit the fraud. Using the ill-gotten money, Anwar and Prasad had begun a poultry business in Tamil Nadu, they said.

Meanwhile, a youth in Wayanad district committed suicide on Tuesday after he was allegedly denied flood relief. M Sanil, who lost his house in the 2018 floods, could not furnish ownership documents for his hut and was denied even the interim relief of Rs 10,000, his wife Sajini told the media.

Following the incident, Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan Wednesday said a probe would be held to ascertain the lapses of the officials in ensuring flood relief for Sanil.