Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that two of his personal staff will be removed from their posts pending inquiry into their alleged role in a solar panel plant scam.
A personal assistant and gunman will be kept off on charges of having constantly maintained telephone contacts with the scam accused.
The Chief Minister announced the decision in the State Assembly on Friday, after the Opposition made a ruckus on the issue for the second day.
It demanded that the Chief Minister resign after the conduct of the two most visible faces of his personal staff had come under a cloud and proceeded to walk out.
The chain of events was triggered after the first class magistrate court in Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district remanded one Saritha S. Nair after being nabbed in connection with the solar plant scam. The arrest was made on a case registered by the Perumbavoor police for allegedly duping one Sajjad of Rs 40.5 lakh on the promise of setting up a solar plant and a windmill farm.
Nair had been acting as a top official of a company called Team Solar Renewable Energy Solutions based at Chittoor Road in Kochi.
Acting in concert with husband Biju Radhakrishnam, Nair is now being alleged to have swindled crores of rupees from a number of people on promise of supplying solar panels and putting up windmill farms.
PRIME ACCUSED
Radhakrishnan, Chief Executive Officer of the company and the prime accused in the case, is absconding.
According to the police, a number of cases have been pending against Sarita Nair at Thalassery, Kozhikode, Pathanamthitta and Mallappally since year 2000.
A preliminary report submitted by an Additional Director-General of Police revealed that the personal staff of the Chief Minister had been in touch with her during the week just prior to the arrest of the latter.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister announced that the same police official would probe the larger solar panel plant scam.
vinson.kurian@thehindu.co.in