THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dismissing the charges levelled against him by Solar scam accused Saritha Nair, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said on Wednesday: “I don’t know her number. Will anyone believe that crores of rupees was given to me by a person who could not honour a `2 lakh cheque contributed to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund? Did they get even a single penny from the state exchequer as benefit? Will anyone squander crores of money for nothing in return.”
Asked about the government’s image after Saritha’s revelations and the role of the Opposition LDF in the episode, Chandy replied that people would know the truth in due course.
“Let the people decide. Earlier, the campaign was that money was offered to torpedo the solar case. The mindset of the people could not be changed by these type of allegations,” he asserted.
Chandy said he also has been holding back many things pertaining to the scam.
“I don’t want to drag many ‘respectable’ persons into this. Recommendation letters of many persons, including those in the media, were used to cheat people. Some channels had telecast ‘exclusive’ interviews of Dr R B Nair (the alibi of Saritha’s estranged partner Biju Radhakrishnan). Many had given certificates to these people,” he said.
“I don’t believe that they had any role in the scam. Hence I don’t want to spell their names,” he said.
On him appearing before the Commission, Chandy said: “I could have skipped by maintaining that as the Chief Minister I have various engagements. Hundreds of allegations were aired in an out of the Assembly, including that the scam amounts to `10,000 crore.
“After all the probe, the investigation team could unearth only a `6 crore scam. The truth has to be found out,” he said.
“During the tenure of the last government, the cheating cases involving the firm were settled as civil cases,” he said. On the allegation that the government had provided subsidy to the solar firm, Chandy said the firm was not even eligible to apply for it.