Bribe of Rs 35 lakh given to K C Venugopal, Biju Radhakrishnan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Biju Radhakrishnan, accused in the solar scam case, has come forward levelling allegations against congress leader K C Venugopal and the solar commission. An amount of Rs 35 lakh was given to him in two installments during his tenure as the union minister.

The money was given to him after Venugopal assured to appoint team solar as the agency of ANERT. I estranged from him after knowing his illicit relationship with Saritha S Nair. Though I asked him to reimburse the money, he failed to do so. Solar commission secretary Divakaran tried to influence me in the presence of commission counsel Harikumar, alleged Biju Radhakrishnan. Divakaran had told Biju to disclose more only after the former held talks with Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, said Biju.

Biju Radhakrishnan, Saritha S Nair sentenced to three years in solar case

PATHANAMTHITTA: The first verdict in the sensational solar fraud case was pronounced Thursday.  The court who found Biju Radhakrishnan and Saritha S Nair, the first and second accused, guilty, sentenced them to three years. A fine of Rs 45 lakhs has been imposed on Saritha and 75 lakhs on Radhakrishnan.

The Pathanamthitta Judicial First Class Magistrate Court (I) pronounced the verdict. The verdict was on the complaint that the two snatched an amount of Rs 1.19 crore from one Baburaj, native of Aranmula, as share of the solar company.

The Pathanamthitta Judicial First Class Magistrate R Jayakrishnan said there are proofs against them for cheating, forgery etc. A case has been registered against them under 406, 409 and 420 sections. The prosecution was not able to prove that a conspiracy has been hatched in the case. The court has granted bail to Saritha. Fenny Balakrishnan, advocate of Saritha, said they  would move the court against the verdict.