THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday carried out searches at the residence of former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his son-in-law P A Mohamed Riyas, and several others in connection with its probe into the CMRL money laundering case, officials said.
Raids are being conducted at a total of 10 premises across Kerala, including Vijayan’s rented residence in Thiruvananthapuram, where armed central security personnel stood guard outside the two-storey house at Bakery Junction.
Raids are also taking place at Riyas’ residence in Kozhikode.
Searches are also underway at the residences of senior CMRL officials simultaneously, reports said.
The ED action came after the High Court declined to quash the ED proceedings and cancellation of the summons issued by the central agency. The ED charge is that Exalogic, an IT firm owned by Veena T, daughter of the former CM, received ₹1.72 crore from the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) over years for IT services, which were never delivered.
The allegation is that the payment was instead used to settle debts of Veena’s company and thus passing down the liability to the publicly-listed company.
The ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2024 to investigate the allegations. CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby condemned the raids, terming them a “targeted attack” on a top Opposition leader by the BJP-led government. He said such actions would not intimidate Pinarayi Vijayan or the CPI(M).
“Is the UDF government complicit in this raid?” Baby questioned, adding that the party would continue to resist what it described as political vendetta.
ലഘു വിവരണം
സിഎംആർഎൽ കള്ളപ്പണം വെളുപ്പിക്കൽ കേസിൽ മുൻ മുഖ്യമന്ത്രി പിണറായി വിജയൻ, മരുമകൻ പി.എ. മുഹമ്മദ് റിയാസ് എന്നിവരുടെ വീടുകളുൾപ്പെടെ കേരളത്തിലെ 10 കേന്ദ്രങ്ങളിൽ ഇഡി റെയ്ഡ് നടത്തി. ഹൈക്കോടതി കേസ് റദ്ദാക്കാൻ വിസമ്മതിച്ചതിന് തൊട്ടുപിന്നാലെയാണ് ഈ നടപടി. പിണറായി വിജയന്റെ മകൾ വീണയുടെ കമ്പനിയായ എക്സാലോജിക്കിന് സിഎംആർഎൽ കമ്പനി നൽകിയ 1.72 കോടി രൂപയുടെ ഇടപാടിലാണ് അന്വേഷണം. ഈ നടപടി രാഷ്ട്രീയ പ്രതികാരമാണെന്ന് സിപിഐഎം നേതൃത്വം ആരോപിച്ചു.
(With inputs from MN)
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