Tenny Joppan, a former staff member of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's office and an accused in the solar scam case, was released from the District Jail here on Saturday.
Joppan was in judicial custody for the past 57 days in a cheating case filed by R. Sreedharan Nair of Konni. Mr. Nair, in his complaint, alleged that Saritha S. Nair, another accused in the case, had cheated him of Rs.40 lakh, promising to set up a 3-mw solar power plant at his industrial unit at the Kinfra Park in Palakkad.
Joppan is the third accused in the case.
The Kerala High Court had on Friday granted him bail on his executing a bond of Rs.50,000 and two solvent sureties for the like amount.
Another condition for the bail was that he should not leave the State for the next six months or till the completion of the investigation.
Joppan’s lawyer had produced the order issued by the High Court before the jail authorities on Saturday afternoon, effecting his release by 3.30 p.m.
The Judicial First Class Magistrate here granted the lawyer’s plea for police escort to Joppan up to the boundary of the district for fear of a possible attack on him.
Though there was enough police force to escort the vehicle carrying the accused, a group of relatives and friends who reached the spot had taken over his security.
They pushed back presspersons who tried to talk to the accused and three scribes were injured in the melee.
Actor released
Staff Reporter writes from Thiruvananthapuram
Actor Shalu Menon, one of the accused in the solar panel scam, was released on bail from the Women’s Prison , Attakulangara in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday afternoon.
The High Court on Friday had granted bail to the actress and Tenny Joppan. The order in this regard was issued by Justice S. S. Sateeshchandran on the bail pleas of the two accused.
Shalu Menon has been asked to execute a bond for Rs.1 lakh and two solvent sureties for the like amount and to appear before the investigating officer every Monday for eight weeks.
The State police on July 6 had arrested Ms.Menon from her home in Changanassery.
She has been accused in a cheating case registered in Thiruvananthapuram along with Biju Radhakrishnan, one of the main accused in the solar scam.
The actor who walked out of the jail was received by her mother Kala Venugopal. Ms. Menon, who refused to speak to the media, headed home after completing the necessary formalities for bail at the jail.
