ED Attack Case: 27th Accused Held, One More Still Left

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The 27th accused in the case registered over the attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials who had arrived at the residence of Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan to question his daughter Veena Vijayan in the CMRL-Exalogic case, has now been taken into custody at the Chennai airport.

Adarsh, who had allegedly left the country after the incident, was arrested at Chennai airport on Monday morning after he landed there.

A lookout notice had earlier been issued against him.

A team of the Museum police has left for Chennai to take custody of the accused and bring him to Kerala.

The arrest comes days after the 25 people held in the case in the last week of May secured bail.

The first information report had named 27 accused in all, leaving two accused beyond the reach of the investigating team.

With Adarsh’s arrest, only one of the 27 accused remains to be apprehended.

The remaining accused, identified as Palayam Santhosh, is also understood to be abroad.

Police have intensified efforts to trace him and bring him back to Kerala.

The case relates to the alleged attack on ED officials as they were leaving Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence after questioning Veena Vijayan in connection with the agency’s probe into alleged financial transactions involving her IT firm Exalogic and Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL).

The incident had triggered a major political controversy, with Vijayan coming under criticism over the alleged assault on central agency officials.

Several political leaders and activists have now been served a notice to appear for questioning.

The arrest of the 25 accused in May had led to protests from the Opposition and its allies, while the police maintained that the arrests were based on evidence collected in the case.

The accused were subsequently granted bail last week.

With Adarsh’s arrest, the police are now left with the task of tracing Santhosh, the only accused named in the original FIR who remains at large.

His reported presence abroad could make his arrest and return to Kerala more difficult.