Deputy Leader of the CPI(M) legislature party Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has said if the Crime Branch conducts its investigation properly, the roots of the ‘solar scam’ will lead to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
At a news conference here on Tuesday, Mr. Balakrishnan said the Opposition would provide all necessary evidence if the government ordered a judicial inquiry into the scam. He admitted that Saritha Nair had tried to meet him at his office when he was the Home Minister in the last government but was turned off when her replies to questions appeared suspicious. She had come to his office with a letter from an MLA belonging to the then Opposition, he said.
Mr. Balakrishnan said there was no deliberate delay in the investigation into the death of Reshmi, wife of Biju Radhakrishnan, who is the prime accused in the scam. The probe had not taken off only because of the delay in getting the forensic laboratory report. The UDF was in power when the death had occurred in February, 2006. Although the investigation was handed over to the Crime Branch in 2008, the charge sheet could not be registered as there was a delay in getting the forensic report.