New case filed in solar scam, Chandy sees govt ploy amid temple row

Kottayam: The Kerala Police registered a new case based on the sexual abuse allegations raised by solar scam-accused Saritha Nair. Former chief minister Oommen Chandy, who has been charged in the case filed on Sunday, said the move was politically motivated and aimed to divert people's attention from the Sabarimala issue that has left the LDF government in a spot.

"This has happened before also and now this fresh development has surfaced because of the issues in Sabarimala. I will deal with this case legally.  I will reveal more details tomorrow in the state capital," Chandy said.

Kerala has been witnessing massive protests by devotees opposing the entry of fertile women into the Sabarimala temple since the government decided to implement the Supreme Court order. 

Special team to probe

Kerala police chief Loknath Behera told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that a new FIR has been registered and a special team had been constituted to probe Saritha's complaint.

"Now, let the law takes its course," said Behera.

In the complaint, Saritha said that she was sexually abused by Chandy and Alappuzha Lok Sabha member KC Venugopal in Thiruvananthapuram in 2012. 

The alleged fraud case surfaced after several people were reportedly duped of crores of rupees by Saritha and her accomplice, Biju Radhakrishnan, by offering solar panel solutions to them. The scam rocked the Chandy government in 2013 after it came to light that a section of the chief minister's office had links with the couple.

In a letter, Saritha had named Chandy and numerous other Congress leaders as those who abused her.

Chandy had moved the Kerala High Court in December 2017, seeking the quashing of the judicial commission's report, alleging that its findings were based on Saritha's letter.