Weapon of mass distraction

In 2011, a sitting Kerala High Court judge came out and praised Saritha Nair, 38, and her partner Biju Radhakrishnan's efforts to sell solar panels in Kochi. Team Solar Renewable Energy Ltd's scheme, the judge noted in a letter of endorsement, directly threatened criminals who took advantage of the dark to commit crime. In just two years, those words would come back to haunt the judge. Saritha and Biju were arrested for a string of cheating cases. 'Solar Saritha' is Kerala's newest celebrity, a ratings magnet for prime-time TV and a star for the selfie-crazy public. Indeed, the impact of the scam's sex, lies and political sleaze has even got Mollywood in a tizzy. She was even signed on by filmmaker Shaji Kailas for a Suresh Gopi-starrer, Thalasthanam (Capital), a potboiler loosely based on the scam.

Born in a lower middle class family in 1978 in Alappuzha district, Saritha was raised by her mother Indira after her father Somashekharan committed suicide when she was still in school. Teachers in St Annie's High School, Chengannur, remember her as a bright student-she scored 538 out of 600 marks in her secondary examination in 1993 and later did her diploma in Applied Electronics. The turning point came in 2004 when she met Biju Radhakrishnan while working in a financial firm. Her proximity to Biju led to her divorce after which she joined his consultancy firm. Between 2008 and 2010, 16 cases of cheating and fraud were registered against the duo for duping businessmen by offering fake loans.

IGP M.R. Ajithkumar, who arrested the couple in 2010 for fraud, calls them a "strange and dangerous mix". "Saritha was manipulative, and Biju, a born criminal." After getting bail in 2010, the couple began setting up solar panels in homes of VIPs to build contacts and use their political contacts to cheat people. It is still not clear exactly how Saritha Nair gained unfettered access to CM Oommen Chandy's office and residence but by the end she was a familiar face to ministers and staff there.

Soon, Congress ministers and legislators were promoting her company and sharing the dais with her. The couple parted ways over mutual suspicions in 2013. During her interrogation that year, Saritha revealed how Biju had murdered his wife in 2006, a revelation which led to Biju being charged for murder. "Nothing can stop Saritha if she is determined to use you," rues a Congress legislator who did not want to be identified. "She is like an assassin who finds her victim in the most unexpected ways." Politicians call her a blackmailer who extorts money from high-profile victims. She made a sensational claim of rape against Congress MLA A.P. Abdullakutty in 2014 but backed off soon after, saying it was done at the instigation of his political rival, KPCC general secretary Thambanoor Ravi.

During the course of all this probe itself, there was first the leak of call records, then the sensational letter bomb. She told judicial magistrate N.V. Raju that she had been sexually exploited by many political leaders and had identified them in a sealed letter. But the magistrate didn't record her statement for which he was later censured by the high court. Political commentator A. Jayashankar feels Saritha has effectively used the judiciary and media to serve her ends. "By agreeing to the inquiry commission, the CM unwittingly handed Saritha a platform from where she can damage him," he says.

Days after her sensational bribery allegation against the CM, the makers of the political thriller Saritha had signed on for announced they were shelving the film. Reality was clearly overtaking make-believe.