Alappuzha: A yoga teacher, Yogi Nirmalanandagiri, at Charamood here, has come out with fresh allegations against Saritha S. Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan. He said the duo had extorted about Rs 25 lakh from several people in the area offering promises galore.
According to the yogi of Thapovan ashram, the duo met him in January 2007 and said they could have ensured government welfare funds for the ashram had it been registered as a trust. Biju went on to say  he would need Rs 1.5 lakh as he had to meet ministers in the capital city for making necessary arrangements for the release of funds. Biju told the yogi that he was a consultant.
Nirmalanandagiri also said they set up a centre named ‘Saffron Consultants and Event Management’ and distributed leaflets detailing their services. On February 15, the ashram was registered as a trust. The yogi was then taken to Thiruvananthapuram by the duo for inviting Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who was the home minister then, to attend the inaugural function of the trust. But they did not succeed in meeting him, he said. 
Biju, said the yogi, had stayed a day at the ashram and later he checked into a hotel at Kayamkulam with Saritha. He conducted All India Trade Fairs in various places between Kayamkulam and Adoor. He would invariably disappear from the venue before the fair concluded. He wouldn’t even pay the hotel bill.
Following this apparent deceit, the yogi registered a complaint with the Kayamkulam and Chengannur DySPs. But, the police just ignored his plaint and did no sleuthing, he said. Meanwhile, both the DySPs said there had been no complaints against Biju in 2007. “We would have taken up the case had there been any complaints in this regard”, they said. 
Biju was with Shalu before he escaped
Thrissur: In another twist in the solar scam, police here has revealed that accused Biju Radhakrishnan stayed in a hotel in Thrissur on June 2 and that he travelled with cinema-TV serial actress Shalu Menon and her mother from Kochi to Thrissur that day. This was immediately before he went underground.
 
According to investigation report, this happened on the very day Saritha S. Nair, wife of Biju, was arrested by Perumbavoor police. Biju, wanted by the police in the case, is believed to have escaped to Coimbatore from Thrissur.
 
Confirming this, Shalu Menon’s mother said that Biju had contacted them on that day and when they told him that they were going to Thrissur in connection with a dance programme, he requested them to pick him from Kochi. He also used Shalu’s phone throughout the journey.
 
Biju Radhakrishnan reportedly came to know about the arrest of Saritha when he was in a hotel in Thrissur. He hired a room in the hotel as Dr. Biju and also produced a copy of his driving licence as address proof. Police also confirmed that Dr.Biju was in fact the accused in the cheating case.
Shalu Menon in trouble over links with Biju 
Thiruvananthapuram: Actor and dancer Shalu Menon is in trouble as the police unearthed clinching evidence of her association with Biju Radhakrishnan, the key accused in the solar panel case. The cops stumbled on the proof  during raids at various places on Sunday. Shalu and her mother will be quizzed by the investigation team soon.
 
Shalu had earlier claimed that Biju had cheated her of Rs 20 lakh by offering to install solar panels at her residence.   She also said she had no personal relations with Biju. She managed to create a perfect picture of innocence while pouring out her plight to several channels.
 
But employees at the office of Swiss Solar here had a different tale to tell. They told the cops that Shalu was a frequent visitor at the firm’s offices and Biju had even introduced her as the firm’s executive director. The man even bought a luxury car for her. A few employees of the firm have been placed in custody for interrogation.
 
Razik Ali, an NRK from Manacaud here told the police that he was duped of Rs 70 lakh by Biju. The conman had  sought Ali’s investment in what he called was a German solar panel firm and a windmill farm in Tamil Nadu. He also said the money was given in the presence of Shalu.
 
Top police sources said that since there was clear evidence of Shalu’s association with Biju, which the TV actor earlier tried to suppress, it was quite obvious that Shalu was aware of Biju’s present hideout. Biju absconded on June 4, a day after arrest of his ally, Saritha S. Nair.
 
Apart from albums holding the picture of Shalu and Biju, the police recovered several cheques, agreements, vouchers, computer hard disks, memory cards, solar panels and brouchers from the offices of Team Solar and Swiss Solar in various parts of the state including Swiss Solar at Thampanoor here, Biju’s house at Chembumukku in Ernakulam and Kulakkada at Kottarakara, a franchisee office at Tripunithura and Dream Solar Enterprise (an ex-franchisee of Team Solar) at Kalpetta. The police also recovered a diary containing phone number of many customers of True Solar and Swiss Solar.
 
DGP K.S. Balasubramanian convened a meeting of the investigation team headed by ADGP South-zone A. Hemachandran and reviewed the progress of the probe. So far, the police has received nearly 25 complaints against Biju and Saritha and ten cases have been registered against them.