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Revelations made by an accused in connection with the intelligence document forgery case involving Congress MLA Shobhana George may lead to reopening of the ISRO espionage case and also further embarrass the MLA.
Shobhana is accused of forging a document linking Kerala Tourism Minister K V Thomas to a Rs 33.6 million (Rs 3.36 crore) hawala scandal.
Thaniniram reporter R Jayachandran, who surrendered before the Crime Branch Police on Wednesday, told the police that he had played a role in the sensational ISRO espionage case, which had ruined the career of ISRO scientist Nambinarayanan and led to senior Congress leader K Karunakaran's resignation as Kerala chief minister in May 1995, Crime Branch Superintendent of Police N Natarajan said.
Though the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had dismissed the espionage case involving two senior ISRO scientists, two Maldivian women and some others as false, no one bothered to expose the people behind the fabrication of the case.
In this context, Jayachandran's revelation is bound to kick off another storm.
The journalist, who is the fourth accused in the intelligence document forgery case, claimed to have participated in the forgery emboldened by his success in the ISRO espionage case, the officer said.
Nambinarayanan, who was sanctioned an interim compensation of Rs one million by the National Human Rights Commission as compensation for the torture he endured during police custody, has termed the revelation as interesting.
"The Kerala government has so far not released the compensation. I would consult my advocate and find out what I can do," he told rediff.com.
Coming back to the Shobhana George forgery case, Jayachandran claimed that the document was forged by Shobhana George, her personal assistant Anil P Sreerangan and him, Natarajan said.
The journalist, who was a close friend of the MLA from Chengannur, however, did not reveal the motive behind the fabrication of the document.
Natarajan said that the journalist had revealed the number of the mobile phone he and the MLA used for contacting various persons connected with the fabrication and also named the person they deputed for delivering the document to Surya TV, which on June 24 telecast a news item based on the controversial document.
The SIM card for the mobile phone was given to a common friend of Shobhana and Jayachandran after June 24. Jayachandran confirmed this after talking to the MLA over phone from the Crime Branch office on Wednesday, the officer said.
The document was delivered to Surya TV by Praveen (24), a resident of Thiruvananthapuram, he said adding Surya TV receptionist Bindu has identified Praveen.
Natarajan said that Praveen had delivered the document as a favour to Jayachandran for getting him discharged in a case he got involved in while studying at the Chengannur Engineering College.
The senior Crime Branch officer said that the seal used to forge the document was obtained from the despatch section of the Intelligence Department. Jayachandran has sought two days' time to provide information about the place where the document was prepared and the computer used, he said.
Meanwhile, Thiruvananthapuram Chief Judicial Magistrate N J Jose remanded Jayachandran to seven days' judicial custody. The journalist's bail plea and the Crime Branch's application for his police custody would be heard on Friday.
These revelations are bound to create further tension in the faction-ridden Congress as party men want to know at whose instance the MLA took this initiative and for whose benefit.
It is no secret that relations between senior leader K Karunakaran and the tourism minister were strained considerably after the former's daughter was elevated as chairperson of the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation, a government agency under the tourism ministry.
The Congress faction headed by Karunakaran has been demanding a reshuffle of the A K Antony cabinet for some time now.
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