Kerala payoff allegations emerge as government prepares special-investigation probe

Allegations that several Kerala politicians received money from CMRL emerged as the state government prepared to issue a notification forming a special investigation team, according to The Hindu. The politicians named in the supplied material include Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and Health Minister K.

Muraleedharan. The report says other politicians were also alleged to have received money. The proposed team is expected to examine findings by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case involving former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T.

Veena and her husband, P.A. Mohamed Riyas. The allegations surfaced on Thursday, as the government was preparing the notification.

The available material does not say whether the special investigation team had formally been constituted or detail its terms of reference. It also does not provide the alleged amounts, responses from the politicians named, or the Enforcement Directorate’s full findings. No conclusion of wrongdoing is stated in the supplied report.

The case therefore involves allegations and a proposed investigative process. Further information would be required to establish the evidence, the scope of the team’s work and any responses by those named.