ED letter against Vijayan, daughter, Riyas to be examined as per law: Minister Chennithala

Thiruvananthapuram, Keralam Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday said the ED's letter to the state DGP seeking registration of an FIR against CPI leader Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T Veena and son-in-law P A Mohammed Riyas in connection with the CMRL-linked alleged bribery case would be examined and a decision taken as per law.

His reaction came shortly after media reports about the Enforcement Directorate's letter to DGP Ravada A Chandrasekhar.

Chennithala said he had spoken to DGP, who told him that he had received the letter just 10 minutes ago.

"The DGP will examine the letter.After examining the letter, a decision will be taken on what action needs to be taken as per law. If the DGP receives a letter, he will act as per the prescribed procedure. You please wait for that," Chennithala said.

The central agency has sent a communication under Section 66 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act , citing findings of its investigation conducted in the said case, sources told PTI.

This section under the anti-money laundering law empowers the ED to share findings of its criminal investigation with a law enforcement agency for registration of a fresh FIR or complaint. The ED can book a PMLA case on the basis of such a police case.

The ED has sought registration of a police FIR from the Kerala Director General of Police against Vijayan, Veena T and Riyas and some others on the basis of "evidences" recovered by it during the probe and searches conducted in this case under the PMLA, they said.

It is alleged by the ED that Kerala mining firm Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd made fraudulent payments worth ₹2.78 crore to Veena's now-defunct company Exalogic Solutions under the guise of "IT consultancy services".

The federal agency had raided Veena, who was living with Vijayan at a rented accommodation in state capital Thiruvananthapuram, in June and subsequently questioned her.

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