VS: Saritha talked to Thiruvanchoor
Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition Leader V. S. Achuthanandan on Tuesday trained his guns on Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, alleging that con woman Saritha S. Nair had called him four times on the phone.
At a press conference here, the Opposition Leader said Saritha had made the calls from her number 8606161700 to Thiuruvanchoor’s cell number 9447018116 and the calls were made after the con woman had spoken to the Chief Minister’s former personal assistant Tenny Joppan who is now in custody in connection with the solar fraud. “The minister should make it public as to why Saritha called him and what transpired between them,’’ he said.
Responding to the charge, Thiruvanchoor told DC that he was open to probe by the Special Investigation Team and that the four calls to his cell phone were among the nearly 42,000 calls that Saritha had made between June 4, 2012 and June 1,2013 to different people.
Achuthanandan accused the Home Minster of telling lies over and over again which was evident from the Shalu Menon episode. “Initially, the minister denied having known Shalu Menon but subsequently he admitted to attending her house warming on April 28.”
The minister had stated that when he was going by that way, party workers compelled him to attend the ceremony and he spent just two minutes there,’’ he said. But Shalu Menon's mother, who said Thiruvanchoor had spent two hours, had exposed his lies.
He alleged that the Home Minster was also destroying crucial evidence in the case. According to local photographers and videographers, the video footage and albums of Shalu Menon’s house warming had been destroyed at the instance of Thiruvanchoor. "Shalu Menon had helped the main accused Biju Radhakrishnan to escape after the revelations. But the police were reluctant to arrest her,'' he added.
Thiruvanchoor told Deccan Chronicle that Saritha had the habit of calling top politicians. "I have information that she had called up top leaders of UDF and LDF. When asked whether he had responded to Saritha’s calls, the Home Minister said;" I can’t recollect.. But the SIT is free to check my call records and if possible find out what transpired between us. I am open to any probe,’’ he said.
"I have been an MLA for the past 23 years and I am very particular in taking the calls personally. If I don’t do that, it will be an insult to the caller. Even if I find a missed call, I try to call back whenever I am free,’’ he added.
When asked about the Opposition charge that with him at the helm of Home affairs, the probe cannot be free and fair, he said: "There is no question of interfering in the probe. I will fully cooperate in case SIT wants to probe me,’’ he added.
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