ED Raids Premises Linked to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan After Court Ruling

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted coordinated searches at multiple locations in Kerala linked to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The federal action follows a significant legal setback in the Kerala High Court, which cleared the path for investigators to proceed with a probe into alleged financial irregularities involving the Chief Minister’s family. Focus on Exalogic-CMRL Transactions The raids, conducted in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, are part of an ongoing investigation into financial dealings between Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) and Exalogic Solutions, an IT firm owned by the Chief Minister’s daughter, Veena Vijayan. Federal agents are scrutinizing payments totaling approximately Rs 1.72 crore made by the mining company to the IT firm between 2017 and 2020. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and the ED allege these payments were made for services that were never actually rendered. The investigation was triggered by a report from the Interim Board for Settlement of the Income Tax Department, which classified the transactions as "unexplained" and potentially illegal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). High Court…