Kriti Agrawal
Following a warrant issued by the Kozhikode Judicial First-Class Magistrate Court, the Kasaba police arrested Saritha S. Nair, the main suspect in the solar scam, on Thursday.
In the morning, she was taken into custody from her home in Thiruvananthapuram.
According to District Police Chief (Kozhikode City) A.V. George, the arrest was recorded, because the accused did not appear in court for a final hearing despite several warrants being issued. He mentioned that she would be brought before the magistrate soon.
The charge against her was that she defrauded Abdul Majeed, a Kozhikode-based industrialist, of Rs 42.7 lakh by offering him franchises in solar panel and windmill farms. It was the first case of deception in relation to the solar scam.
Despite the fact that the verdict in this case was scheduled on March 26, the court adjourned it due to the accused’s absence at the final hearing.
According to reports, she attempted “out of court settlements” with Biju Radhakrishnan, the first accused in the case, in order to avoid the legal proceedings. She was said to have repaid a part of the money she received from the defrauded industrialist.
There were also claims that the police were deliberately delaying Ms. Nair’s arrest in a number of other related cheating cases following her “out of court” settlement efforts.
In the aftermath of such supposed settlement efforts, she had even hesitated to obtain anticipatory bail in such situations. The charge sheet against the accused was submitted to the court in December 2013. In 2016, the trial began.
They had already been prosecuted in two other related cases in Koyilandy and Vadakara Magistrate’s courts.