Solar Scam: Govt Initiates Vigilance Probe Against Oommen Chandy

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The Kerala government decided to initiate a criminal and vigilance probe against former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and others in the Rs 7 million Solar Scam case.
Chandy’s cabinet colleagues Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Aryadan Mohammed and former Congress legislators Thampanoor Ravi and Benny Behanan would also be probed in the scam that surfaced in 2013. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan disclosed the findings of the judicial commission and claimed that it had found Oommen Chandy and his office’s involvement in the multi-crore solar panel scam.
Pinarayi said that the Justice Sivarajan Commission constituted to probe the scam had found that Chandy and his former staff members, namely, Tenny Joppen, Jikkumon Jacob, gunman Salim Raj and Delhi based friend Kuruvilla had helped the prime accused in the case. The accused, Saritha S Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan and their company Team Solar are accused of cheating clients to the tune of crores in cohorts with the then Kerala Chief Minster Chandy.
A criminal case would be registered against former Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan after the panel found him guilty of letting Chandy escape from the case. The Kerala government has now formed a new SIT that will probe allegations against Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and other Congress leaders like Benny Behanan and Thamapanoor Ravi, allegations of sexual abuse raised by Saritha Nair in connection with the case.
The move comes as a massive setback to Oommen Chandy. The findings of the case have far reaching implications for the career of Oommen Chandy, considered till now among the cleanest politicians in the state.
The Congress party rubbished the panel’s findings and has accused the state government of making politically motivated decisions.
Oommen Chandy said that he is not afraid of any probe as he had not done anything wrong. He also asked the Government to publish the report.