Biju Ramesh, the whistleblower in Kerala’s sensational bar bribery scam involving the State Finance Minister, has alleged that the death of Swami Saswathikananda, head of the Sivagiri Mutt, 13 years ago was actually a case of murder committed by a hired killer at the behest of Vellappally Natesan, general secretary of SNDP Yogam, the outfit of Hindu lower caste Ezhavas.
This is the third serious charge Natesan is facing since he started efforts about three weeks back to constitute a party of the majority communities in Kerala under the leadership of the SNDP Yogam and indicated that this party might enter into an alliance with the BJP for the local bodies election in November and the Assembly poll next year. “Priyan (an accused in another murder case) had told me over the phone that he had killed the Swami at the behest of Vellappally,” Biju Ramesh, a liquor baron and general secretary of the Sree Narayana Dharma Vedi, said. He claimed that Priyan had told him that the murder was pre-planned.