KOCHI : Even as the Lok Sabha election is round the corner, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the pay-off case involving the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) is looking to question Veena T, the daughter of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, regarding the money received by her firm Exalogic Solutions.
Top sources said Veena is likely to be summoned after ED questions CMRL managing director S N Sasidharan Kartha, who failed to appear before the central agency on Tuesday, citing health reasons. “Questioning him (Kartha) is crucial before summoning Veena,” a source said.
At present, ED is gathering information from CMRL officials regarding the money the firm paid to various companies, including Exalogic. It questioned three CMRL officials — chief financial officer K S Suresh Kumar, senior manager N C Chandrashekaran and senior officer Anju Rachael Kuruvilla — for 24 hours, from Monday 10.30am to Tuesday 10.30am. The trio was questioned about the transactions between CMRL and Exalogic. It was verified whether Exalogic provided any technological service to the firm as part of a deal. ED officials said the officials’ interrogation extended to 24 hours as they did not cooperate with the probe team and refused to reveal all the facts.
While Suresh and Vasudevan reached the ED office around 4pm, Kartha skipped questioning again – he did not appear on Monday too.
The ED has already accessed CMRL’s books that were recovered by the income tax department, Registrar of Companies and Serious Fraud Investigation Office . The agency is also checking whether the transaction between CMRL and Exalogic comes under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The ED investigation is based on an I-T department report that said CMRL paid `1.72 crore to Exalogic under the guise of the latter providing software services.