SFIO knocks on CMRL's doors; expected to grill Vijayan's daughter next

Kochi, Feb 5 (IANS) A week after the announcement that the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) will commence its probe into Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter’s IT firm, the SFIO team on Monday began its inspection at the office of the mining company CMRL, in which the state-owned Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) has a stake.

The SFIO team, led by Arun Kumar, began its inspection at CMRL’s corporate office in Aluva.

The SFIO was acting on the findings of the preliminary probe by the Registrar of Companies (ROC). Prior to the ROC investigation, this issue was first raised by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan on the basis of a media report.

The media report had quoted an Income Tax Department officer as saying that Vijayan’s daughter Veena Vijayan’s IT firm Exalogic had received Rs 1.72 crore from the mining company CMRL, in which the KSIDC has a stake.

At that time Vijayan and the entire top leadership of the CPI-M trashed the report as politically-motivated.

However, now, with the SFIO reaching the office of CMRL, the next stop would be Veena Vijayan as she is the sole director of Exalogic, which is temporarily closed.

The SFIO team is also expected to reach the KSIDC’s office soon.