Attack on ED officials during CMRL-Exalogic raid: Court denies bail to five accused

The Judicial First Class Magistrate-III, Thiruvananthapuram, on Saturday rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of five accused in connection with the attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials during a raid at the residence of opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram.

The searches were conducted soon after the Kerala High Court permitted the ED to continue the probe into allegations that Exalogic Consulting received ₹1.72 crore from CMRL between 2017 and 2020 for software-related services, with no clear evidence of services being rendered.

The accused are Nidin Raj (35) of Peroorkada, Manoj (43) of Vilappilsala, Jeevan (29) of Vanchiyoor, Shahil (40) of Vanchiyoor, and Sreejith (30) of Thyvilakam. Additionally, seven other accused have been remanded to judicial custody.

The case was registered at the Museum police station under Sections 189(2)(simple member of an unlawful assembly, 191(2)(general rioting), 191(3)(aggravated rioting), 190(unlawful assembly), 126(b)(wrongful restraint), 132(assault or the use of criminal force against a public servant to deter them from discharging their official duties), 121(1)(voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to a public servant), 118(1)(voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons or means), and 109(defines the offence of attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 3(1) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.

The prosecution case states that, on May 27, the ED conducted searches at around 12 locations, including the residences of Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur, the Kochi office of CMRL, properties linked to company officials, and the Bengaluru office of Exalogic Consulting, owned by Veena Vijayan. Veena Vijayan, the third accused in the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) chargesheet, was questioned for around nine hours at her father’s rented residence in Thiruvananthapuram.

After completing the searches, ED officials left the residence at around 2.40 pm in three taxi cars. A crowd of around 300 people surrounded the vehicles on the road and attacked them using stones, bricks, sticks, and rods. The vehicles were damaged, and ED officials were allegedly obstructed. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Kerala Police personnel present at the spot were also attacked while trying to control the situation. The damage to the taxis is estimated at ₹3 lakh, the prosecution case read.

The accused were arrested and produced before the court on May 28 and have been in judicial custody since then.