Police put up barricades outside the Kochi office of the ED on Wednesday to secure the premises
| Photo Credit: H. Vibhu
A day after the Kerala High Court granted permission to probe the alleged financial transactions between Exalogic Solutions, a firm owned by former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter T. Veena, and Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) in the alleged pay-off case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched a series of simultaneous raids across the State and beyond on Wednesday (May 27, 2026) morning.The raids by officials from the Kochi zonal office of the ED commenced around 7 a.m. The agency obtained the High Court order dismissing CMRL’s plea to quash the case on Tuesday around 8 p.m. and hastily planned the raids thereafter.In Ernakulam, searches are being conducted at the corporate office of CMRL in Aluva, the residence of its managing director Sasidharan Kartha, also in Aluva, and the office of a sister concern of CMRL. Raids are reportedly underway at the residences of company officials handling finance and at two locations in Bengaluru linked to Exalogic Solutions.Searches are also being carried out at Mr. Vijayan’s rented house at Bakery Junction in Thiruvananthapuram, his ancestral home in Kannur, and the residence of former Minister and Ms. Veena’s husband P.A. Mohamed Riyas. The ED officials, however, remain tight-lipped about the operations.While dismissing CMRL’s plea, the court directed the firm’s officials to appear before the ED and cooperate with the investigation into alleged irregularities in the financial transactions.Earlier, on February 5, 2024, a team of officials from the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs conducted an inspection at the CMRL office as part of its probe. The SFIO had constituted a six-member team after the Union government ordered an investigation under Section 212 (1) (a) & (c) of the Companies Act into the affairs of Exalogic Solutions Pvt. Ltd., CMRL, and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) Ltd., a State government entity holding a 13.4% stake in CMRL.The controversy erupted after the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board released a report in August 2023 stating that Ms. Veena and her company had received ₹1.72 crore over three years as monthly payments from CMRL despite no evidence of services rendered. The report further noted that the payments were made owing to her relationship with a prominent person. Documents seized by the Income Tax department allegedly included details of payments made to politicians, temples, government servants, and media houses. It was also alleged that CMRL had disbursed around ₹135 crore to political leaders and government officials since 2016.The case triggered a major political controversy in the State, with the then Opposition UDF using it to target Mr. Vijayan and his government. Published - May 27, 2026 11:39 am IST
