'Met CM Chandy at Cliff House,' Saritha comes up with fresh charges

Kochi: Solar-scam accused Saritha Nair continued to keep the UDF government on its toes with a fresh set of allegations against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy . In a sitting before the solar probe commission on Thursday, Saritha testified that she met Chandy at the Cliff House in Thiruvananthapuram.

She also claimed that co-accused Biju Radhakrishnan met Oommen Chandy prior to the Emerging Kerala Summit in 2012.

She made the fresh revelations in her statement to the Justice Sivarajan Commission on Thursday. She said that the CM had met co-accused Biju Radhakrishnan prior to 2012 Emerging Kerala programme in Kochi.

According to her statement, Biju met Chandy along with a mediaperson. On the same day, she talked to Chandy over Salim Raj's phone at around 10.45 p.m. The CM directed Saritha to meet him at Le Meridien hotel in Kochi the very next day. Although Biju and Saritha went to the hotel as directed by Chandy, they could not meet the minister due to the presence of media.

Later, it was decided over phone to meet him at the Cliff House. Chandy's wife, son and a few party workers from Puthupally were there at the house when Saritha and Biju reached there the next day, she said.

The Chief Minister then called Saritha to his personal chamber for a discussion. The talks were purely 'personal and business-related', she said. She also informed the Commission that she can submit all relevant business documents to prove her statements.

Meanwhile, the Commission has rejected Minister Aryadam Muhammed's plea to cross examine Saritha, saying although all MLAs were served with notices, none of them responded to it then. The panel also said that cross examination won't be allowed until Saritha's statements are taken.