ED compels people to testify against Pinaraya Vijayan, daughter of Veena: Mohamed Riyas

CPI(M) Keralam State Secretariat Member PA Mohamed Riyas at a press conference in Kozhikode on Thursday. | Photo credit: K. Ragesh

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) Keralam PA State Secretariat Member Mohamed Riyas has alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is intimidating people to issue statements against him, his wife T. Veena and her father and Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan.

At a press conference in Kozhikode on Thursday morning, the Beypore MLA claimed that the statements thus obtained are then supplied to the media as official press releases. Mr. Riyas alleged that the ED officials had earlier asked Ms. Veena to file a statement against her father. However, she refused. Mr. Riyas also alleged that the agency spread false information about her testimony in connection with the Exalogic-Cochin Minerals and Rutil Ltd. payoff case. (CMRL).

It was reported that Ms Veena had testified before the ED that her now defunct company Exalogic Solutions Private Ltd had not provided any services to CMRL. “She never did so. In fact, Ms. Veena gave a detailed statement about the services rendered by CMRL and payments received through bank accounts and taxes paid,” said Mr. Riyas.

SN Sasidharan Kartha, Managing Director of CMRL also made no statement that Ms Veena’s firm had not rendered any services, he added.

Asked about media reports that he “illegally” amassed ₹20.5 crore and “diverted” some of that wealth to Dubai to “set up a business unit” there, Mr Riyas said he and his wife had visited the country several times. “Do political leaders visit Dubai to channel their hawala money?” he asked.

The media reports are said to be based on a letter written by the ED to the state police chief on September 7 seeking registration of a separate FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act and other relevant laws against Mr Vijayan, Ms Veena and Mr Riyas in the pay case.

The CPI(M) leader alleged that family members of one of his friends, a businessman in Kozhikode, were also threatened and forced by the ED to testify against him, Ms. Veena and Mr. Vijayan after the August 18 search operation.

“Now the letter he sent to the agency has come out retracting his earlier statement. The agency allegedly threatened to implicate his 22-year-old daughter in the case and put her behind bars for years. He was asked who he was trying to protect, his daughter or someone else’s daughter,” Mr Riyas said.

‘Character Assassination’

Asked why Ms. Veena was not responding to the allegations, Mr. Riyas said it was her constitutional right to respond or not to respond. “What is happening now is character assassination. The truth will come out one day. I am willing to be questioned by the agency, I have clear answers to all their questions. Did ED get anything from their searches? I will not bow to such tactics by an untrustworthy agency. I will fight against it politically and legally,” he added.

Published – 10 Sep 2026 13:46 IST