The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday carried out searches at the residence of former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his son-in-law P A Mohamed Riyas and several others in connection with its probe into the CMRL money laundering case, officials said.
Raids are being conducted at a total of 10 premises across Kerala, including Vijayan’s rented residence in Thiruvananthapuram, armed central security personnel stood guard outside the two-storey house at Bakery junction.
Raids are also taking place at Riyas' residence in Kozhikode.
Searches are also underway at the residences of senior CMRL officials simultaneously, reports said.
The ED action came after the High Court declined to quash the ED proceedings and cancellation of the summons issued by the central agency. The ED charge is that Exalogic, an IT firm owned by Veena T, daughter of the former CM, received Rs 1.72 crore from the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) over years for IT services, which were never delivered.
The allegation is that the payment was instead used to settle debts of Veena's company and thus passing down liability to the publicly-listed company.
The ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2024 to investigate the allegations.
CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby condemned the raids , terming it a “targeted attack” on a top Opposition leader by the BJP-led government. He said such actions would not intimidate Pinarayi Vijayan or the CPI(M).
“Is the UDF government complicit in this raid?” Baby questioned, adding that the party would continue to resist what it described as political vendetta.
Citing reports, he claimed that two ministers in the cabinet of current Chief Minister V D Satheesan also allegedly received money from the Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd (CMRL) and the same should have been investigated.
He said such moves will not intimidate the CPI(M) or Vijayan and "anyone who thought it would, did not know the party or its leader very well".
Recalling Vijayan's past experience as a Communist leader, CPI(M) leader Baby said that the former Kerala CM was arrested and faced brutal police assault when he was an MLA during the emergency declared by Indira Gandhi.
Amid the search, former minister Mohammed Riyas posted on Facebook stating that he will continue to fight against the Sangh Parivar till his last breath.
In the social media post, Riyas wrote: “You may attack me from all sides... but I will not bow before the Sangh Parivar. I will fight till my last breath.”
CPI(M) workers assembled outside Vijayan's residence in Pinarayi village in Kannur district and raised slogans against the ED, CPM leaders staged a sit-in protest in front of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence at Bakery Junction. Several leaders including former minister V. Sivankutty, MLA V. Joy, Anavoor Nagappan, V.K. Prasanth, and Bineesh Kodiyeri took part in the protest.
The protest on the road in the state capital followed an emergency secretariat meeting at the AKG Centre.
In his reaction, Senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan alleged that the ED raids at the residence of Vijayan and others were part of a "joint Congress-BJP operation" and their "grand design".
Speaking to reporters outside Vijayan's home in Kannur, he said the searches followed the meeting between Kerala CM V D Satheesan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Menon Satheesan and Modi had a meeting. Right after that, raids were carried out at the permanent and rented homes of Vijayan and the house of his son-in-law P A Mohamed Riyas."
"This is all part of a clear planning, a grand design. I believe the people will see it for what it truly is," he added.
Meanwhile, Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said that neither the state police nor the Home Department had prior knowledge of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) search operations.
Responding to CPIM's allegation of the raids being a part of the 'BJP-UDF deal,' as the action comes a day after CM Satheesan's meeting with PM Modi, he said that during Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s tenure, he had met the Prime Minister in Delhi several times, and such interactions were part of official procedures.
Chennithala also added that the ED had not sought any assistance from the Kerala Police for the search operations.
