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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday written to the Kerala Director General of Police (DGP) seeking registration of an FIR against former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T Veena and son-in-law PA Mohamed Riyas, MLA, in connection with the alleged bribery case linked to Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL).
The case pertains to allegations of money laundering and suspected irregular financial transactions involving CMRL and entities linked to Exalogic Solutions, owned by Vijayan's daughter. Last month, the ED conducted searches at eight premises at various locations of Kozhikode in Keralam in its ongoing CMRL financial transaction case. Officials, privy to the development, said the search operations were a 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 an alleged money trail from Veena, daughter of former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, during the searches carried out in May. 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 allegedly 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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