CM postpones public programmes to fly to Dubai with family, Riyas and Veena to visit three countries

KOCHI: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with his family has left to Dubai for a personal visit. He left from Kochi Nedumbassery airport Monday morning. He will visit his son and family in Dubai. The chief minister is expected to be in Dubai for 15 days. It is not clear whether the chief minister will visit other countries.

Minister Mohammad Riyas and his wife Veena Vijayan have also accompanied the chief minister. Apart from Dubai, Riyas and Veena will visit Indonesia and Singapore. Riyas has been granted travel permission for 19 days.

The government usually through a press release carries the information of the official visits. However, as this is a private visit, no information about the chief minister's trip has been divulged. The chief minister left after postponing all his public programmes.

Meantime, the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court dismissed the plea filed by Mathew Kuzhalnathan MLA against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena Vijayan in the monthly pay off controversy. The plea demanded the court to directly investigate the case.

Kuzhalnadan alleged that Veena Vijayan was paid a monthly salary as a reward for granting permission to the CMRL company for mineral sand mining. The court had asked the petitioner to produce evidence for his claim. Mathew Kuzhalnadan's lawyer had presented some documents in this regard to the court.

However, the vigilance prosecutor told the court that none of the documents showed that the government had gone out of the way to help the company. Kuzhalnadan was not able to prove the illegal reward alleged to have been given by CMRL in the monthly pay off case or to give a clear answer to the vigilance court's questions. Special vigilance court judge M V Rajakumara considered the case on May 3.