V D Satheesan demands CBI probe into conspiracy to frame Oommen Chandy in sexual exploitation case

Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly V D Satheesan on Thursday demanded a CBI probe into the alleged criminal conspiracy to implicate late former chief minister Oommen Chandy in a sexual exploitation case.

Just a day after the media reported that a meeting of the party-led UDF's coordination committee had opted not to demand a CBI probe in the matter, Satheesan has come out stating the contrary.

"The CBI has found that there is a criminal conspiracy against Oommen Chandy in the solar case. The opposition demanded in the Legislative Assembly that the CBI investigate the matter and the government recommend the central agency probe," Satheesan told reporters here.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Viajayan had recently said in the state assembly that his government would legally examine and take requisite action on any request by the Congress-led UDF for a CBI probe.

The chief minister said this while responding to the debate on UDF's motion for adjourning the House to discuss the issue of the alleged conspiracy, which was reportedly mentioned in a report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) before a magisterial court recently.

The report was filed on the request of the LDF government in the state, based on a complaint by the prime accused in the sensational solar scam that had rocked the state nearly a decade ago when the UDF was in power.

Satheesan on Thursday said that the recent meeting of the Congress-led UDF had decided not to hand over to the chief minister the letter seeking an investigation in the case, as he was the one who had allegedly 'hatched the conspiracy against Chandy'.

He said the UDF would go the legal route to ensure a CBI probe into the criminal conspiracy unearthed by the agency itself during its investigation.

'If they (CBI) are not willing to investigate, we will seek legal recourse,' Satheesan told reporters here.

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 solar scam.

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 saying 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.