THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is the main accused in transferring the data of Covid-19 suspects to a US-based PR and marketing firm Sprinklr.

"Pinarayi Vijayan is the first accused in this data fraud case as this is an agreement with an international marketing and PR firm, but there is not a single government file that is there. (Do not know, if something has now been made out) More importantly, data in international parlance is the most priceless thing and according to estimates this transfer of data is worth Rs 200 crore in the international market and it could go as high as Rs 700 crore," said Chennithala to the media.

Chennithala was responding to Vijayan's point to point rebuttal on the issue.

"I am very happy that Pinarayi Vijayan, yesterday (Wednesday) agreed to quite a few things that I have raised. We are now told that this US company was working in Kerala since the days of floods (2018). Now this company is using the defence of Vijayan as accolades and is used to further their interest there. So we wish to know from the chief minister , how long has this company been working in our state," said Chennithala and added that it's quite mysterious when Pinarayi Vijayan, who even informs the media that he has taken steps to give food even to the ants in the state, has never ever mentioned a word of this 'free service' being provided by this US firm.

On Wednesday, Pinarayi Vijayan said he had nothing to hide in this as state-owned C-DIT will have the full control of the data and so, there will be no data leaks and some people want to create a smokescreen over a non-issue.

The government had not followed official formalities in Sprinklr deal and the chief minister himself agreed that the American company is an accused in a data fraud case. That case was not filed by any outsider but by their partner.

The chief minister had signed the contract not in consultation with the cabinet. “The deal is not only corruption but a criminal step endangering the lives of Malayalis," he said.

Chennnithala also sought a comprehensive probe into the issue.