Pinarayi Vijayan
Kochi : Enforcement directorate (ED) on Friday issued a summons to leader of the opposition and former Keralam chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the monthly payoff case, directing him to appear for questioning on Oct 23 at the agency’s Kochi zonal office. ED had alleged that CMRL paid Rs 3.28 crore to Exalogic Solutions, a now-defunct company owned by Veena, without receiving corresponding IT consultancy services. Exalogic had a service-level agreement with a monthly retainer of Rs 3 lakh, while Veena was separately appointed as an IT and marketing consultant at Rs 5 lakh a month. The entries allegedly recorded foreign currency deposits of AED 2,82,600, transactions handled through Faijaz V P, a UAE-based associate of Veena, and an outbound transfer of Rs 85 lakh.
You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Kochi | Silver Rate in Kochi | Bank Holidays in Kochi | Public Holidays in Kochi Stay updated with the latest Kochi news. The ED action comes days after the central agency registered two separate enforcement case information reports (ECIR) in cases against Vijayan and former minister P A Mohamed Riyas. Vijayan is the first accused in one case, while Riyas is the first accused in the other. Vijayan’s daughter, Veena T, is an accused in both cases. ED will investigate the new case against Vijayan alongside its existing probe into the alleged monthly payments by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) to Veena’s company, Exalogic Solutions. The case against Riyas will be investigated separately. The agency also cited an A4 sheet and a red notebook seized from Veena’s residence. Download the TOI App.
The summons was issued even as Vijayan on Friday approached Supreme Court to appeal against a Kerala High Court single bench directing vigilance director to immediately register an FIR under Prevention of Corruption Act.