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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the alleged sexual exploitation of a con woman involved in the solar scam in Kerala, on Tuesday examined Cliff House, the Chief Minister’s official residence, as part of the investigation against former chief minister Oommen Chandy.
The complainant had alleged that Chandy had sexually abused her at Cliff House on September 9, 2012, when he was the chief minister. The CBI had obtained permission from the state government to inspect the official residence, where Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stays now. Vijayan is currently in the US in connection with his medical treatment.
The complainant woman was also present with the CBI team which conducted the inspection on Tuesday as part of its bid to collect evidence.
Last year, the central agency registered six cases of rape based on the con woman’s complaints. Apart from Chandy, Congress MPs Hibi Eden, Adoor Prakash, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, BJP national vice-president A P Abdullakutty are among the other alleged accused in the cases.
Last month, the CBI had examined the MLA hostel in Thiruvananthapuram as part of its probe into the complaint against Eden, who had been a legislator at the time of the crime.
A judicial commission – which had probed the solar scam – had recommenced an investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of the woman, who had cheated several persons in connection with solar energy solutions. The previous LDF regime allowed the police to register rape cases against the Congress leaders.
As the crime branch probe did not make any headway, the complainant, in 2020, wrote a letter to Chief Minister Vijayan seeking to hand over the case to the CBI. Subsequently, the previous CPM government recommended a CBI probe into the case in January last year.
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