Kochi, Aug 19 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) latest findings in the CMRL-Exalogic case have dramatically escalated the pressure on Veena Vijayan, daughter of CPI-M leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, with the agency claiming to have recovered handwritten records pointing to financial transactions worth more than Rs 20 crore, including an alleged transfer of Rs 85 lakh to Dubai.
The documented findings made by the ED against Veena Vijayan are extremely serious, said Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President and State Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph.
In a development that could give the long running controversy a fresh political dimension, the ED said its investigation had uncovered evidence indicative of hawala transactions and financial dealings exceeding Veena’s known income.
The agency also said it had recovered digital evidence relating to a SIM card allegedly obtained in another person’s name and suspected to have been used with a Wi-Fi router for internet-based calls.
The findings were detailed in an ED press statement following searches at nine locations in Kozhikode on August 18.
The searches form part of the central agency’s money-laundering investigation arising from the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) probe into alleged corporate fraud and bribery at Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL).
The most significant revelation relates to a handwritten diary recovered during the ED’s May 27 searches at the premises of Veena and CMRL promoters.
According to the agency, the diary contained names of individuals who handled money, amounts spent and amounts transferred to Dubai.
The entries were made in both Indian rupees and UAE dirhams.
The ED said the records showed a transfer of AED 3.49 lakh, equivalent to around Rs 85 lakh, to Dubai.
The handwritten records, according to the central agency, contained details of transactions totalling around Rs 20.05 crore in Indian currency.
The agency has taken the handwritten records into custody.
The ED’s findings strike at the heart of the political controversy surrounding the CMRL-Exalogic payments.
The agency alleges that Exalogic Solutions, owned by Veena Vijayan, received Rs 2.78 crore from CMRL without providing IT services, describing the payments as having been made under the guise of IT consultancy services.
The investigation stems from an SFIO prosecution complaint filed in April 2025.
The ED further pointed to a Rs 50 lakh loan given to Exalogic by Empower India Capital Investment Private Limited, a company operated by CMRL Managing Director S.N. Sasidharan Kartha, despite alleged failure to make timely repayments.
The latest disclosures are likely to revive political questions over the repeated defence mounted by Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena, her husband and former Minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas and the CPI-M over the controversy.
The agency has not, however, established guilt through a final judicial determination, and the allegations remain subject to investigation and legal proceedings.
The agency suspects that the SIM and Wi-Fi router were arranged in another person’s name for internet-based communications.
With the ED now examining the individuals allegedly connected to the financial transactions recorded in the diary, the investigation is set to widen beyond the original CMRL-Exalogic payment controversy.
What began as a dispute over the alleged receipt of Rs 2.78 crore by Exalogic has thus acquired a significantly broader investigative dimension, with the ED now putting an alleged Rs 85-lakh Dubai transfer and suspected hawala dealings.
Meanwhile, the State Congress President Joseph said the ED report contains findings relating to alleged illegal financial transactions.
“This makes it clear that the lame justifications put forward by the CPI-M so far on the issue are not supported by facts,” Joseph said and added that a factual and honest further investigation into the matter was necessary.
Joseph also demanded that former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPI-M respond to the ED’s findings concerning Veena Vijayan’s financial transactions.
–IANS
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