The LDF letter containing the suggestions regarding the terms of reference in the judicial probe also cited Sreedharan Nair’s complaint of cheating by Sarita S Nair. In the complaint it was alleged that Sreedharan Nair gave first instalment of Rs 15 lakh to Sarita Nair following the Chief Minister’s assurance.
To prove his point, Sreedharan Nair had pointed out that Saritha gave Rs 2 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund on the same day.
The LDF pointed out that it was on July 10 that the cheque was sent for clearance.
Another victim in the scam, Sajjad of Perumbavoor, had alleged that Biju had produced a letter from the Chief Minister written on the Chief Minister’s letterhead and bearing his signature. But what the investigators had seized and shown to him was not the same letter, he alleged.
Addressing a news conference later, LDF convener Vaikom Viswan pointed out that one complainant, T C Mathew, who had met the Chief Minister at the Cliff House on March 30 to complain, was threatened by Saritha the very next day.
“It underlines the fact that Chandy and Saritha, in collusion, had cheated many people,” Viswan alleged.
He said M K Kuruvila, a businessman from Banglore, who complained of cheating, was victimised by being arrested and put behind bars.
Viswan pointed out that Chief Minister’s gunman Salim Raj, another personal staff member Jikkumon and others had not been interrogated in connection with the scam.
The LDF also referred to a number of instances which hinted at the role of the Chief Minister and his office in abetting the financial fraud. Viswan said the latest revelations from Pathanamthitta Jail Superintendent showed that the government had sabotaged the investigation.
The Jail Superintendent, in reply to an RTI query, had admitted that Saritha had prepared a 21-page statement which was handed over to her advocate, he alleged.