CBI report points to conspiracy against Oommen Chandy in solar scam
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI team that probed the sexual abuse allegation filed by the solar scam accused against former chief minister Oommen Chandy has informed the CJM Court that “there is no direct or circumstantial evidence to establish the allegation” against the late leader. In its closure report filed before the court last December, the CBI gave a clean chit to Chandy and added that no evidence was collected even to prove the “financial cheating” allegation against him.
The report said the result of the forensic examination proved that there was no evidence to establish the allegation against Oommen Chandy. The report, meanwhile, gives ammo to the Congress allegation that Chandy was framed by the CPM for political mileage. It said the complainant took Rs 50 lakh to hand over her letter to T G Nandakumar, which was then passed on to a media house.
Nandakumar, according to the report, did this under pressure from CPM leaders, who thought broadcasting the content of the letter would help the LDF. The report also said Crime Branch DySP A Shanawaz, who had earlier probed the case, told CBI that his senior cops had asked him not to trouble the complainant and hence the probe was done at her convenience. This statement gives credence to the allegation that the top cops had acted at the behest of the political leadership.
The allegation that Chandy had subjected the businesswoman to sexual abuse and financial cheating was mainly used by the LDF in its campaign before the 2016 assembly polls. The LDF government went one step ahead and recommended a CBI probe into the allegations. The report said the complainant failed to give a proper reason for the delayed filing of the complaint. Though she had stated that she was abused in the Cliff House in 2012, a complaint was lodged only six years later.
The report said the complainant did not present any digital evidence, and Sreejith, the driver of the complainant, gave a statement that there was no such evidence. Her other driver Vinu Kumar told the CBI that she had handed over the letter purportedly written by her to Nandakumar for cash.
The CBI also pointed out that Chandy’s name was not cited by the complainant during in-camera proceedings and also in her letter submitted before the ACJM Court Ernakulam. The staff of Cliff House, Kerala House Delhi and the private hotel in Delhi contradicted the statement given by the complainant, it said. The report also mentions the relationship of the complainant with LDF’s K B Ganesh Kumar and how his team tried to influence her by revealing salacious details of their relationship.
Case part of LDF ploy to oust UDF government
The CBI report exonerating former chief minister Oommen Chandy in the solar case proves that it was part of a conspiracy hatched by the LDF to defame and oust the UDF government, alleged senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Monday. A comprehensive probe should be made to expose the conspiracy and restore Chandy’s reputation, he told reporters in Kochi. “Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who ordered a CBI inquiry against Oommen Chandy based on a complaint from the solar scam accused, cannot wash his hands off the responsibility,” he said.