A serving deputy minister offered to end private investigator P Balasubramaniam's exile in India if he was willing to be charged and plead guilty to fabricating his first statutory declaration (SD).

Balasubramaniam claimed that the deputy minister, who he secretly met twice last year - once in Singapore and later in Kuala Lumpur -  promised to get him the minimum possible fine and agreed to spare him jail time if he cooperated.

"Maybe he feels the BN is not safe and at least he (should) put things in order... (and) close my case," Balasubramaniam told Malaysiakini in an interview early last month...