Kerala Public Works Department Minister PA Mohammed Riyas refused to respond to queries from media persons on reports that his wife Veena Vijayan, the daughter of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, received regular payments from a private company, Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL).

When media persons asked about  the  findings of  the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board (ITISB) that his wife Veena, the daughter of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, received regular payments from CMRL, Mohammed Riyas  parried the question and said the CPI-M state secretariat has already made a statement in this regard.

“The CPI-M state secretariat has already made a statement regarding the matter. No matter how many times you ask, the answer is always the same,”  Riyas told  media persons in Kozhikode.

Instead of answering the query from the media, Riyas blamed the media saying that media  house owners’ personal interests are behind these controversies and journalists lack freedom and fall prey to the whims of their owner.

“The motivations behind these controversies are the private interests of media house owners, Journalists are not free and are subjected  to the whims of owners,” Rias sai

On Monday, when  media persons inquired about the pay-off to Veena Vijayan, CPI-M state secretary M V Govindan left the news conference that the party had called.

Govindan did not even care to hear the question. The “monthly bribe” dispute, according to a CPI-M statement issued on August 10, was false propaganda spread in anticipation of the Puthuppally bye-election scheduled for  5 September.

It has been alleged that Mohammed Riyas has not included the money received by his wife Veena Vijayan in the election affidavit submitted by him to the Election Commission.

It has been reported that neither the income tax returns filed by Veena Vijayan nor the affidavit filed by her husband PWD minister Mohammed Riyas  to the Election Commission disclosed the money received from the CMR

Kerala Chief Minister’s daughter Veena Vijayan allegedly received Rs 1.72 crore from CMRL in monthly instalments in the last three year.

According to reports, Veena and her company, Exalogic Solutions, had a contract with the CMRL to offer the latter IT, marketing consulting, and software service.

The Income Tax Department has reportedly found that no services were, however, provided. But , Veena received a total of Rs 1.72 crore — Rs 55 lakh in personal capacity and Rs 1.17 crore for Exalogic, the company of Veena Vijayan.

In this connection, CPI-M Polit Bureau member M A Baby said that there was a conspiracy behind the controversy over the money received by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena from  the CMRL company

“What came out in the public domain was targeted reporting done on behalf of the central agency. Everyone can see that,”  Baby said.

Meanwhile,  the CPI-Mbhas alleged  that Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan,who targeted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the monthly  payment allegations against  his daughter Veena Vijayan, had undervalued his property to evade stamp duty.

The CPI-M also alleged that Kuzhalnadan firms in Kochi, Bengaluru, Guwahati, Delhi, and Dubai have been used for money laundering activities. Kuzhalnadan has refuted the allegations. He said that he will reply to the allegations on Wednesday.