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Keralam Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday asserted that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting an investigation against his daughter Veena T in the CMRL money trail case purely driven by political targeting, adding that Veena is not the owner of any large assets.
Addressing the media in Thrissur, Vijayan referenced past actions taken against him by central investigative bodies, drawing parallels between the current ED scrutiny and previous probes. "There was a CBI investigation against me in the past. The complaint was that, during an election period, someone had allegedly given me Rs 2-3 crore. The CBI came and conducted an investigation," he said. He maintained that the agency's current focus on his daughter lacks substantive basis and stems directly from her relation to him. "The reason for the ED investigation taking place now is Veena, my daughter. The ED is taking this peculiar action merely because she is my daughter. Veena is not the owner of any large assets. As I did then, I welcome any investigation even today," he said. The statement comes in the context of the case which pertains to the allegations of money laundering and suspected irregular financial transactions involving CMRL and entities linked to Exalogic Solutions, owned by Vijayan's daughter. Earlier on Tuesday, the ED conducted searches at eight premises at various locations of Kozhikode in Keralam in its ongoing Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) financial transaction case. Officials, privy to the development, said the search operations are follow up of previous raids carried out by the ED on May 27 this year in the case. They said the federal agency found certain new evidence of a money trail from Veena, daughter of former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, during the searches carried out in May. As per the officials, persons who were involved in the money trail are being covered in this fresh search operation. On May 27, ED's Kochi zone conducted searches at 10 premises in the case against CMRL directors SN Sasidharan Kartha, Saran S Kartha, Veena, and her company Exalogic Solutions Private Limited. The search operation then covered premises in Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kannur, Trivandrum, and Bengaluru. CMRL is a publicly listed company in which 48.75 per cent of the shares are held by the general public, and also 13.41 per cent of the shares are held by the Kerala State Public Sector Unit, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (as on March 31, 2023). During the search conducted in May, several incriminating records and accounts, digital evidence, investments, and bank fixed deposits were found. The ED has frozen about Rs 18.36 crore in around 242 accounts identified during the search operations, and the evidence recovered is being analysed. (ANI)
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