Eleven days after her release from jail on bail, con woman Saritha S Nair, prime accused in cases related to Kerala’s infamous solar scam, on Monday started disclosing names of the top politicians who had used, misused and exploited her and tried to do so, creating panic in political circles of the State, especially in the Congress party.
The first name she disclosed was that of Congress MlA AP Abdullakutty, who, she said, used to stalk and harass her continually. “Abdullakutty kept on harassing me by telephoning me and sending SMSes at all times – day and night. I can’t reveal the contents of those calls and messages because of their obscenity,” Saritha told newsmen on Monday.
The con woman said that the Congress MlA, who had first called her to enquire about the possibilities of installing solar power projects in his Kannur constituency, “had even invited me to his hotel room. I did not go as I knew about his intention,” Saritha said. Abdullakutty, a former Marxist MP, had joined the Congress in 2009 after being expelled from the CPI(M).
Saritha, accused of making Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s office the operational base of her fraudulent solar power business, said that Abdullakutty had started calling her two months before her arrest on June 3 and had continued that practice even after the arrest. He also sent SMS to her while she was in custody to request not to disclose his name to the police, Saritha said.
Abdullakutty, known and projected often as a moralist in Congress circles, did not refute the charge altogether but limited his response to, “I have committed no wrong,” adding that Saritha was being a pawn in the hands of his political rivals. Chandy refused to respond to the development but State Congress president VM Sudheeran said the party would inquire into it.
“I will disclose the names of the top men who had used me in several ways in the coming days. There are several (VIP) names to be disclosed. This will be also an act of vengeance. let them experience at least one-tenth of the tension that I had gone through in the nine long months of my prison life. let them also lose some sleep,” Saritha said.
Allegations had come up that Union Minister of State KC Venugopal, State Tourism Minister AP Anil Kumar (both Congress), former State Forest Minister KB Ganesh Kumar (Kerala Congress-B) and several other leaders had “used” Saritha Nair, who said she would speak of everything without delay.
There were also allegations that top political leaders had arranged money for Saritha to settle the cases – there are 46 scam-related cases against her — out of court. It is now alleged that the con woman is threatening to make “explosive disclosures” but is keeping on delaying that as a strategy to blackmail such politicians to earn more money.
The solar scam pertains to the duping of several people of many crores of rupees by Saritha and her former live-in partner Biju Radhakrishnan promising to install solar power plants in Kerala and wind mills in Tamil Nadu with all the statutory subsidies that the Centre and the State Government were providing for such projects.
Mallelil Sreedharan Nair, one of the victims of Saritha’s fraudulent business, had said Chandy had given him assurances on Saritha’s business personally at a meeting in his office in Saritha’s presence. Chandy had repeatedly denied having any connection with Saritha but photographic evidence had come out to suggest that they knew each other closely.