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The Congress-led UDF opposition on Sunday demanded a probe to find out who was behind the alleged conspiracy to implicate late Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in a sexual exploitation case in connection with the solar scam.
The demand by the UDF came as the CBI, which is probing the matter, has reportedly said that some political leaders were behind the accusations against Chandy that were made by a woman who is the prime accused in the sensational solar scam.
In a report tabled before a magisterial court here, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has reportedly named the political leaders who were allegedly behind the conspiracy to implicate Chandy in the case.
Following the development, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan demanded that those found by the CBI to have conspired against the late Congress leader be brought to justice.
Satheesan, in a statement, said the late Congress stalwart was hunted and his reputation maligned by his political opponents, and that the CBI report saying there was a conspiracy to implicate him in the case is an answer to all those who targeted Chandy.
He also alleged that the conspiracy was hatched with an intention to topple the then UDF government in the state.
Satheesan said that as Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had ordered the CBI probe, he cannot avoid the responsibility of the conspiracy.
Speaking along similar lines, Congress MP K Muraleedharan said the party was waiting for the entire report to be made public and to know the views of the court before which it was tabled.
“At the same time the party wants a fair and unbiased investigation into the conspiracy to implicate Oommen Chandy in the case,” Muraleedharan, the former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and the son of legendary Congress leader K Karunakaran, told reporters.
It was a conspiracy to topple the then UDF government by making allegations against Chandy, he claimed and further alleged that “there is no doubt that the current Kerala Chief Minister has a role in it”.
“The truth behind it needs to come out. For that a proper investigation is required, that is the party’s wish. This issue would also be discussed in the party leadership meeting to be held on September 12. We want those behind the conspiracy to be brought before the public,” the Congress MP said.
Similar demands were made by Congress MLA Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan too.
Meanwhile, Saranya Manoj, a close relative of Kerala Congress (B) MLA K B Ganesh Kumar, claimed there was no political conspiracy in the matter and that he was hurt by the “unnecessary” allegations against Chandy.
Both Manoj and Kumar’s names reportedly figure in the CBI report.
The Kerala Congress (B) is a part of the ruling LDF.
Manoj also told reporters that were no sexual assault related allegations against Chandy in the initial letter of the complainant and that Kumar had no role in the matter.
“In fact, Kumar gave statements in favour of Chandy before the CBI. That is what I was told by CBI officials too,” Manoj claimed.
“I do not believe there was a political conspiracy,” he added.
On the other hand, seven-time former MLA P C George alleged that he was approached to give a statement implicating Chandy, but he had refused to do so.
He too alleged that Vijayan was behind it as, without his direction, no one would dare to take such steps against Chandy.
The CBI in December last year had given a clean chit to Chandy in the sexual exploitation allegation levelled by a woman, who is the prime accused in the sensational solar scam that had rocked the state when his government was in power nearly a decade ago.
The CBI had earlier submitted referral reports in the court giving clean chits to four other Congress leaders including AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, Lok Sabha MPs Adoor Prakash and Hibi Eden and MLA A P Anil Kumar who were named as accused in the sexual exploitation case filed by the woman.
The cases against the six people, including Chandy, were registered over the past few years and investigated by the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police based on a complaint by the woman, an accused in the multi-crore solar panel scam during the UDF government, that she was sexually exploited by them in 2012.
The CPI(M)-led Kerala government had recommended a CBI inquiry into the cases in January 2021, a few months ahead of the polls to the state assembly.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
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