Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 19 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated steps to obtain evidence from Dubai in the alleged hawala transactions case in which CPI-M legislator and former Kerala minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas, the son-in-law of Pinarayi Vijayan, is the first accused, marking a fresh phase in the investigation into suspected financial dealings involving the family of the former Chief Minister.
The agency will issue a Letter Rogatory, a formal judicial request seeking evidence from another country, after first obtaining permission from the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court and subsequently approaching the Ministry of External Affairs to seek assistance from the relevant authorities in Dubai.
The ED will then obtain details of bank accounts allegedly used to route money through hawala channels.
According to the agency’s allegations, Riyas, the Tourism and Public Works Minister in the second Pinarayi Vijayan government from 2021 to 2026, had, along with his friends, engaged in hawala transactions between July 2024 and July 2025.
The agency has already interrogated three close aides of Riyas as part of the probe.
The hawala investigation is separate from the CMRL-Exalogic monthly payment case, in which Vijayan is the first accused.
The latter concerns payments made by Kochi-based Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) to Exalogic Solutions, the now-defunct IT company owned by Vijayan’s daughter, T. Veena.
The payments allegedly made without corresponding services rendered are at the centre of that investigation, in which Vijayan is the first accused.
Veena is the second accused in both cases, while Riyas is the first accused in the hawala case.
The twin investigations have drawn attention because both the state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) and the ED have registered separate cases.
The VACB has registered two FIRs, while the ED has recorded two Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs), the agency’s equivalent of a case registration under the money-laundering law.
The move to seek evidence from Dubai signals the ED’s attempt to trace the alleged overseas financial trail in the hawala case.
The proposed request will require cooperation from the authorities concerned in the United Arab Emirates, and the information obtained could help investigators examine the alleged transactions and identify the accounts and individuals involved.
–IANS
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