Solar scam accused Saritha threatens to lodge complaint against VS Achuthanandan for 'insulting womanhood'
Thiruvananthapuram: Solar scam case prime accused Saritha Nair on Saturday threatened to lodge a police complaint against CPI(M) stalwart V. S. Achuthanandan for 'giving credence' to fellow accused Biju Radhakrishnan's allegation that she had been sexually exploited by some prominent personalities including a Union minister.
After visiting Saritha in the sub-jail here, her lawyer Pheney Balakrishnan told reporters that his client would lodge a police complaint against Achuthanandan, BJP leader K. Surendran and Biju's lawyer Jacob Mathew for 'insulting womanhood'.
He said Achuthanandan's statement amounted to giving credence to baseless allegations. Achuthanandan, however, rejected the charge that his intention was to insult Saritha or heap humiliations on public figures and held that he was not scared of facing complaint over what he had said at a press conference earlier this week.
Breaking his silence over the issue, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said it was "most unfortunate" that a leader of Achuthanandan's stature made such an allegation which amounted to running down public figures without any factual basis. He said that in sharp contrast, the reaction of Achuthanandan's party colleague Pinarayi Vijayan to the development was matured and dignified.
When his reaction was sought, Achuthanandan said in Kozhikode that his intention was not to insult womanhood but to expose Chandy for shielding the culprits.
"I am not a wee bit afraid of the complaint being lodged against me. I have not insulted any woman. My purpose was to expose the chief minister who had concealed what he knew," the nonagenarian leader contended.
The solar scam pertained to alleged financial cheating by Saritha and Biju by offering their victims solar energy solutions. The scam snowballed into a major political row after the arrest of a personal assistant in Chandy's office for allegedly aiding the accused. Opposition LDF has been running a high-voltage campaign, demanding resignation of Chandy, who has rejected it.
