ED issues fresh summons to Veena in money laundering case; asks her to appear on June 16

KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons to T Veena, daughter of former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in the monthly payoff case. The summons issued has asked her to appear on next Wednesday (June 16) for interrogation at their Kochi office. The investigation is into the mystery surrounding the transaction in which CMRL paid Rs 2.78 crore to Veena's Exalogic Solutions.

The ED had earlier issued a notice to Veena asking her to appear for questioning on June 12. However, she had sent a letter to the ED stating that she could not appear due to health issues. The Enforcement Directorate had issued notices to nine, including the CMRL company heads in Kochi, along with Veena.

ED sources had informed that the summons was a follow-up to the raids conducted at the house of her father and opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan, where she lives and the house of her husband Mohammed Riyas. ED will be questioning her for the first time in the case. The main question will be for what service she received the money. The stand taken by Veena and CMRL regarding the questioning will be crucial. CMRL can approach the Supreme Court and get a stay against the rejection of the high court division bench's request to stop the investigation into the Exalogic deal. If the Supreme Court stays the ED's action, the questioning can be temporarily avoided.