CBI to end probe against Hibi over complaint of solar-scam accused

Kochi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is all set to end the probe against Hibi Eden, MP, over a sexual assault case filed by a woman entrepreneur who was in the sensational solar scam years ago. The central probe agency failed to make any headway as no evidence was forthcoming, it's learnt.

The complainant too failed to submit proof to substantiate her allegation.

The woman complainant had accused Hibi of sexually exploiting her at his room in the Nila Block of the MLA Hostel in Thiruvanathapuram. She alleged the incident took place in 2012.

She has raised similar complaints against five other Congress leaders including former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.

Earlier, the CBI had summoned the complainant to its Delhi office and recorded her statement. The CBI took over the investigation into the separate cases of sexual abuse in August 2021.

The cases against six leaders were registered over the past several years and investigated earlier by the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police. The woman had complained that she was exploited sexually by them in 2012.

She is an accused in the multi-crore solar panel scam that shook the Oommen Chandy-led United Democratic Front government nearly a decade ago.

The CPM-led Kerala government had recommended a CBI inquiry into the abuse cases last year, just ahead of the state polls.

The opposition Congress had dubbed it a "politically motivated" move and said the decision to hand over the probe was taken with an eye on the Assembly election as CPM-led government could not find anything against the party leaders.

Besides Chandy, Venugopal, and Hibi Eden, Adoor Prakash, MP, former minister A P Anil Kumar, and BJP leader A P Abdulla Kutty are the accused in six different cases registered over the sexual abuse charge.