Saritha Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan: Kerala’s Bunty and Babli couple

February 3, 2016, NewsCrunch

Con woman Saritha Nair’s stream of allegations against CM Oommen Chandy, his son, associates and few other ministers have rocked Kerala politics.

Ironically, the solar scam, which has engulfed the state’s  powerful politicians and bureaucrats, also marks the downfall of Kerala’s Bunty and Babli couple - Saritha and her former live-in partner Biju Radhakrishnan.

Saritha and in Biju have been accused of plotting several schemes to cheat doctors, NRIs, businessmen and builders.

He is an accused in 21 cheating cases across Kerala and she in 27.

Their most successful con has allegedly been in duping investors on the pretext of setting up solar and wind power units. 

Their solar scam accelerated after Chandy came into power. The duo got close to his ministers and associates. Three officials close to Chandy have been suspended and many ministers face serious charges of helping the con couple. 

The official aura helped the couple allegedly con gullible victims.

Recently, Saritha alleged that Chandy had received a bribe of Rs 1.9 crore. He had also asked her to set up a company in his son’s name, she alleged.

There is also reportedly a CD, which shows Saritha in compromising positions with top politicians and bureaucrats. The existence of the CD has been officially denied.

Here is the brief journey of con couple Saritha and Biju.

Saritha was born in a lower middle class a middle class family in Chengannur in central Kerala. She was bright in studies and passed her 10^th standard in 1994 with distinction.

She did a diploma in electronics and communication and later another diploma in aircraft maintenance and engineering. But she would gravitate to a career in finance, for which she felt she had a natural talent.

As her father died young, Saritha had to shoulder the responsibility of supporting her family. She married an NRI when she was just 18, which did not last long.

Saritha got into share trading and started working for private finance companies. The allegations of fraud and financial misappropriation against her go to back to 2001.

In 2005, she was working for a noted private bank and was briefly jailed on a charge of financial misdemeanour. This was the time she came into contact with Biju who was also an employee of the same bank.

As he had also gone through prison for fraud, the duo got close and began their life of crime together.

They would set up bogus companies promising loans at cheaper rates or soliciting investors for fake projects. They impersonated a range of characters, from IAS officers to World bank officials, to con people.  

The fake solar and wind power generating units they promised to investors was the pinnacle of their crime career. Though there are no definite estimates of how much they made in the scam, reports suggest it could be as high as Rs six crore.

When Saritha and Biju met, he was married and his wife had even complained to the police against her. After she died somewhat mysteriously in 2006 Saritha and Biju started living together.

In 2014 Biju was tried and found guilty of his wife’s murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

It was Saritha, who had complained that Biju had murdered his wife. Various politicians who were feeling the heat from the couple also applied pressure on police.

Saritha and Biju fell out on financial issues and also after he got close to actress Shalu Menon, whom he wanted to marry

Interestingly, both Saritha and Shalu testified as prosecution witness against him in the trial.