T. Veena, daughter of former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, appeared at the zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Kochi on Wednesday (June 17, 2026) for questioning in connection with the probe into the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) pay-off case.

She turned up at the office around 10.25 a.m. P.A. Mohamed Riyas, her husband and Beypore MLA, accompanied her in a vehicle and left the premises after she entered the ED office.

This is the first time she is appearing before the investigation agency at its office in the probe linked to allegations that CMRL made payments amounting to ₹2.78 crore to her now-defunct Exalogic IT company without receiving any services in return.

Security beefed up

The security at the ED office was beefed up ahead of her questioning in view of the violent incidents that occurred during the raids held by the central agency at the residence of Mr. Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram on May 27, 2026. The police had then arrested workers of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) on charges of attacking the vehicles carrying the ED officials. The personnel of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Kerala Police have been posted at the entrance of the ED office as part of the enhanced security measures.

Though she was asked to appear for questioning on June 12, Ms. Veena had sought postponement of appearance citing health grounds. The ED later issued a fresh summons directing her to appear on June 17.

The agency had questioned Shiby S. Kartha, daughter of CMRL managing director Sasidharan S. Kartha, on Monday. On Tuesday, the ED questioned Saran S. Kartha, joint managing director of CMRL, and Jaya S. Kartha, wife of Mr. Sasidharan Kartha. She is the director of Empower India Capital Investments Pvt Ltd operated by Mr. Sasidharan Kartha, which had extended loans worth ₹50 lakh to Exalogic despite the company allegedly failing to make timely repayments.

According to the ED, CMRL was searched by Income Tax Department in January 2019 during which certain fake expenses to the extent of about 130 crore was identified. The fake expenses were also admitted by CMRL before the Income Tax Settlement Commission [ITSC]. The ITSC found that the company gave bribe to various persons. An investigation by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs revealed fictitious cash expenses of about 182 crore over a span of 15 years, which was allegedly used by CMRL to bribe various persons, it said.

The ED had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of a prosecution complaint filed by the SFIO before a court in Ernakulam in April 2025. During the course of the raids, the agency had frozen ₹18.36 crore in 242 accounts identified during the search operations held in the pay-off case.