CBI seeks polygraph test of Chandy's former gunman

Kochi, Jan 16: The CBI is all set to move court here seeking permission to take a former security personnel of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy for a lie detector test, according to officials.

Salim Raj, Chandy's gunman, lost his job in 2013 after it was alleged that he was in close contacts with Saritha Nair, one of the key accused in the infamous Solar panel scam case.

Raj, a Kerala Police constable, landed in another trouble when a Kerala High Court bench headed by Justice Haroon Rashid in March last year handed to the CBI the case of two land deals. The 45 acres of land worth Rs.400 crore was believed to have been usurped by Raj and his accomplices.

It is in this case that the CBI will seek the chief judicial magistrate court' permission to subject Raj and his accomplices to lie detector tests.

The CBI has also informed the high court that it expects to close the case in four months' time.

At the height of the opposition onslaught against him in this case, Chandy last year informed the assembly that the government has filed an affidavit seeking a CBI probe into the case.

Chandy has, on numerous occasions, said his conscience is clear and that he has done no wrong, and has nothing to fear.

This case first surfaced in 2007 during CPI-M leader V.S. Achuthanandan's tenure as the chief minister when home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, after a probe by police team, closed the case stating that there was nothing criminal in nature, and it was just a civil case.

IANS