<p>The solar scam returned to haunt the Congress party in Kerala on Wednesday after the CPM-led state government ordered a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) investigation against former chief minister Oommen Chandy.<br /><br />Investigation by the VACB and a newly constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) will also be initiated against former ministers and Congress veterans Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and Aryadan Mohammed.<br /><br />The Congress hit back by alleging “political motives” behind the probe, announced while polling of votes was on for the Vengara by-election.<br /><br />Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the investigations here, two weeks after the Justice G Sivarajan Commission, which investigated the scam, submitted its findings.<br /><br />The solar scam pertains to charges that the two prime accused – Biju Radhakrishnan and his former partner Saritha S Nair – cheated investors, luring them into non-existent solar energy projects citing contacts in the office of the then chief minister Oommen Chandy. The scam hit headlines after the duo’s arrest in mid-2013. Vijayan said the state government, acting on the commission’s findings, would register a vigilance case against Chandy for having accepted bribes “directly and through others”.</p>
<p>The solar scam returned to haunt the Congress party in Kerala on Wednesday after the CPM-led state government ordered a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) investigation against former chief minister Oommen Chandy.<br /><br />Investigation by the VACB and a newly constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) will also be initiated against former ministers and Congress veterans Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and Aryadan Mohammed.<br /><br />The Congress hit back by alleging “political motives” behind the probe, announced while polling of votes was on for the Vengara by-election.<br /><br />Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the investigations here, two weeks after the Justice G Sivarajan Commission, which investigated the scam, submitted its findings.<br /><br />The solar scam pertains to charges that the two prime accused – Biju Radhakrishnan and his former partner Saritha S Nair – cheated investors, luring them into non-existent solar energy projects citing contacts in the office of the then chief minister Oommen Chandy. The scam hit headlines after the duo’s arrest in mid-2013. Vijayan said the state government, acting on the commission’s findings, would register a vigilance case against Chandy for having accepted bribes “directly and through others”.</p>
