The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 19 examined the bank lockers of Veena Vijayan, daughter of CPM supremo and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in Thiruvananthapuram as part of its ongoing probe into the alleged receipt of Rs 2.78 crore from Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) between 2018 and 2019. Assisted by central forces, the agency examined the lockers to trace the source of funds and ascertain the money trail after earlier freezing her bank accounts.
Reportedly, Veena had handed over the documents concerning her bank accounts to the ED during the interrogation in Kochi on June 17. The lockers are being examined based on those documents. The exercise is ongoing at HDFC Bank near Ayurveda College, Thiruvananthapuram.
The ED had interrogated her in connection with the mysterious money transfer from CMRL to her, the owner of Exalogic Solutions, Bengaluru.
She was released after a nine-hour-long interrogation. It started at 11 am and ended at 6 pm. Three intervals were permitted. She was given an opportunity to read the recorded answers she had given during the interrogation before she left at 8 PM.
According to available reports, she disclosed during the interrogation that she had accepted Rs 2.78 crore from CMRL for providing software services. She reportedly added that she did not have the details and evidence of the services rendered because the company had been closed.
She was asked about the source of the money that came into her account and how she spent it. However, she reportedly could not give any satisfactory reply to most of the questions.
It was the second summons she had received. The first summons was served asking her to appear for interrogation on June 12. However, she informed the agency of her inability to appear, citing health reasons.
Background:
The CMRL-Exalogic controversy surfaced after the Interim Settlement Board of the Income Tax Department reportedly found that Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) had paid substantial amounts to Exalogic Solutions, a now-defunct IT firm owned by Veena Vijayan, daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, between 2017 and 2019.
The Board reportedly observed that the payments could not be treated as legitimate business expenditure and noted that there was no clear evidence of services rendered by Exalogic to CMRL. The revelations triggered a major political controversy in Kerala, with Opposition parties alleging a political-business nexus between and demanding a CBI probe. Subsequently, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) initiated an investigation into the transactions, while public interest litigations seeking a court-monitored probe were filed before the Kerala High Court. The Enforcement Directorate later launched a money laundering investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
