"Not Spontaneous": Probe Team On Attack During Kerala Searches

The mob attack on a team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials during searches linked to former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was "not a spontaneous reaction" but a conspiracy, the central probe agency said in a statement today.

"During the search operation, one of the ED teams was attacked by a group of people after the conclusion of the operation at the premises of Veena and P Vijayan at Thiruvananthapuram. The crowd attacked the ED team cars with bricks and iron rods without any provocation," the ED said.

"This shows that some people conspired for the attack and it was not a spontaneous reaction. The three cars in which ED search teams and CRPF personnel were travelling were attacked and vandalised. One of the drivers of the car suffered an eye injury during the attack," the ED said, adding the officers did not resist the crowd.

It said the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who accompanied the ED did not use "any aggression on the crowd." A case has been filed with the local police for action against the attackers, the ED said.

The ED action on Wednesday came a day after the Kerala High Court lifted the stay in the investigation into the CMRL-Exalogic case, a tech company of Veena Vijayan, the daughter of the former chief minister.

The ED officers spent at least seven hours combing through Vijayan's rented house in Thiruvananthapuram, his Kannur house, and the Kozhikode house of Beypore MLA and former minister PA Mohammed Riyas, the husband of Veena Vijayan.

"ED would continue with the investigations with respect to other persons who were paid bribes/money by CRML so as to identify the proceeds of crime," the probe agency said in the statement.

The ED searches included premises of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL), its directors SN Sasidharan Kartha, Saran S Kartha, Veena and her company Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd. The searches were conducted at 10 premises across Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kannur and Trivandrum in Kerala, and Bengaluru in Karnataka.

CMRL is a publicly listed company in which 48.75 per cent shares are held by the general public and 13.41 per cent shares are held by the state government company, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, as on March 31, 2023.

The ED said CMRL was searched by the income tax department in January 2019 during which fake expenses up to Rs 130 crore were identified. CMRL admitted the existence of the fake expenses before the Income Tax Settlement Commission (ITSC), the ED said. The ITSC in its order said CMRL personnel themselves admitted that bribes were given to many people by the company.

"The investigations done by ED showed that proceeds of crime were generated by the management of CMRL led by SN Sasidharan Kartha and bribes were paid to various persons. Veena is a recipient of money from CRML without rendering any services," the ED said in a statement.

"Intelligence gathered by ED showed that Veena was living with her father P Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram. Accordingly, the premises where she was living were covered. When the search team reached the premises… her father P Vijayan was also present… During the search several incriminating records/accounts, digital evidence, investments/bank FD were found. ED has frozen about Rs 18.36 crore in around 242 accounts identified during the search operations. The evidence recovered is being analysed," the ED said.

Vijayan alleged the Centre is using the probe agency to target political opponents. "Some people like (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi would be happy, as the narrative by him was why Pinarayi Vijayan is not being arrested," he said.

"The BJP government has always targeted political adversaries. The Congress also took the stand that if not their leaders, then there is no issue. But we are not going to be cowed down," he added.

In Delhi, CPI(M) leaders protested in front of the ED office against what the party called a brazen political witch-hunt against the former Kerala chief minister. Led by CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby, the protesters were met with swift police action. Senior leaders including Brinda Karat, Ashok Dhawale, Mariam Dhawale and Vijoo Krishnan, along with Vikram Singh and Delhi state secretary Anurag Saxena were among those detained.