CMRL MD's 2024 retraction affidavit in Exalogic case surfaces, says ED forced statement

Kochi: A 2024 retraction affidavit submitted on behalf of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) Managing Director S N Sasidharan Kartha, alleging intimidation and forced recording of his statement by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has surfaced a day after similar affidavits by two senior company officials came to light.

The affidavits, submitted to the ED Director in New Delhi on May 15, 2024, assume significance as the agency relied on statements of CMRL officials in its September 7 report to the State Police Chief seeking registration of an FIR against Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan, his son-in-law and MLA P A Mohammed Riyas and T Veena, Vijayan’s daughter and Riyas’ wife. The ED alleged that Vijayan received ₹3.28 crore as illegal gratification through Veena.

According to the retraction affidavit submitted by Kartha’s brother N Ajith, the 72-year-old CMRL MD was bedridden and suffering from severe physical and cognitive ailments, including Parkinson’s disease and dementia, when ED officials questioned him at his residence on April 17, 2024.

The affidavit alleges that officials questioned Kartha for hours despite his treating doctor’s warning that he lacked the cognitive capacity to understand or answer their questions. It says the interrogation caused severe mental distress, with Kartha expressing a desire to end his life.

It further alleges that officials prepared statements based on earlier statements given to and subsequently retracted before the Income Tax Department, and forcibly affixed Kartha’s fingerprints to the documents without reading out their contents.

The statements, recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), allegedly contained admissions that Kartha had transferred funds to vendors, withdrawn cash without genuine expenses and made payments to Veena and Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd despite no services being rendered, allegedly because of his personal relationship with Vijayan. The ED had cited Kartha’s April 17, 2024 statement in its findings.

Ajith also alleged that other CMRL executives were summoned to Kartha’s residence, where their statements were recorded, and Kartha’s fingerprints and Ajith’s signatures were obtained as witnesses without disclosing the contents.

In an email to CMRL on May 15, 2024, Ajith wrote: “I would like to inform you that in this connection I had submitted a Retraction Affidavit, on behalf of my brother, to the Director, ED Delhi office on 15th May 2024.”

The affidavit alleged threats to the life and property of those involved and sought a declaration that the statements and fingerprints obtained under duress were null and void.

The development follows retractions by former CMRL Chief Financial Officer and Chief General Manager P Suresh Kumar and current Chief General Manager K S Suresh Kumar. Both submitted their retractions to the ED Director on May 15, 2024.

P Suresh Kumar, who has since resigned, alleged that he was intimidated and pressured while being questioned. He said that when he maintained that Exalogic had provided actual IT services to CMRL, officials allegedly pressured him to change his version and threatened him, ultimately forcing him to sign statements that reflected the investigators’ version.

K S Suresh Kumar alleged that he was detained at the ED office for nearly 24 hours, deprived of sleep and subjected to mental and physical agony. He claimed that, despite suffering from hypertension and diabetes, he was denied food and essential medication at scheduled times. He alleged that officers threatened to arrest him unless he admitted that Exalogic had provided no services and that CMRL had generated unaccounted cash through bogus expenses to bribe politicians. He said he eventually signed pre-drafted statements due to exhaustion and stress.

At a September 11 press conference, Riyas alleged that the ED had intimidated individuals into giving statements against him, Veena and Vijayan, describing the exercise as an attempt to manufacture evidence. The allegations of coercion have not been established, and the ED has rejected such charges.