Chandy faces allegations of sexual abuse

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 3: Damning charges of sexual abuse and corruption hit Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday, as a prime accused in the solar scam deposed before a judicial commission with claims of “evidence” to expose the chief minister.

Biju Radhakrishnan told the commission that Chandy and five others including two ministers had sexually used his former partner and co-accused in the scam, Sarita S Nair.

While deposing before the G Sivarajan Commission in Kochi, Biju said he had “video evidence” to back allegations that Chandy, Ministers A P Anilkumar and Shibu Baby John, MLA Hibi Eden, Aryadan Shoukath — activist and son of Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed — and Nazarullah, Anilkumar’s personal assistant, took sexual favours from Sarita.

Biju claimed that he himself had shown the chief minister videos involving the five others. According to sources, Biju said he will produce the evidence if the commission chose to review it.

Biju also said he paid Rs 5.5 crore as bribe to chief minister. He told the commission that while Rs 5.1 crore was handed over directly to Chandy, Rs 40 lakh was moved through the chief minister’s personal staff members Tenny Joppan and Jikkumon Jacob. The money was handed over in three instalments, Biju’s statement said.

The links the chief minister’s office had with Biju and Sarita had rocked the state government in mid-2013 and continue to leave aftershocks on the state’s politics.

The accused had, through their company Team Solar, collected money from potential investors by promising stakes in high-profile solar and wind energy projects that did not take off.

The duo had lured in many investors citing “connections” they had in the chief minister’s office and with influential ministers. In January last year, Biju was sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of his wife Rashmi.

The company was floated on a Rs-400 crore investment with a proposed 40 per cent profit share for Chandy, Biju said.

Chandy had also promised 70 acres of land for the company in the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation park in Palakkad, he said.

The revelations have doubled as fresh ammunition for the CPM-led Opposition. CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan sought an interim report from the commission in the wake of Biju’s charges.

CPM polit bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan said the revelations have nailed Chandy’s role in the scam. “The revelations are explosive. Safety of Biju Radhakrishnan has to be ensured,” he wrote in a stinging Facebook post.