THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After levelling bar bribery allegations against Finance Minister K M Mani, Kerala Bar Hotel Association leader Biju Ramesh on Monday accused Excise Minister K Babu and two other ministers of involvement in the scandal. He also alleged that Mani’s son, Jose K Mani, had tried to influence a witness in the case in a bid to “save his father”.
After getting his statement recorded under CrPC 164 before the First Class Magistrate Court here, Ramesh told reporters that he had handed over to the court the CD and the cell phone that was used to record the discussions.
He said all pieces of evidence against the four ministers, including Mani and Babu, had been submitted before the court. However, he didn’t reveal the names of the other two ministers.
Earlier, there were allegations against Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and Health Minister V S Sivakumar in connection with the bribery scandal. The CD is learned to contain the voice recording of Mani’s son trying to influence a witness.
Biju’s 30-page statement was recorded by Magistrate K Vishnu in in-camera proceedings that lasted three hours. Stating that the recordings were more than ten hours long, Biju said: “The audio records not only contain the conversations of bar owners but also has more evidence like videos.”
He alleged there were still efforts to influence and threaten him so that he would withdraw the case. “A senior leader even approached my mother and sister and asked them how they would deal with it if something happened to me,” he said.