A week after Income Tax authorities pointed out that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan and her company got suspicious payments, her husband and State Tourism Minister PA Mohammed Riyas refused to respond to questions about the controversy. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, August 15, he also expressed his displeasure about the media being ‘forced to follow an agenda’. Riyas also said that the CPI(M) state secretariat had made a detailed statement about the controversy.
"Though today is Independence Day, the fact is you (media) are not free as you are all forced to follow the agenda of those who own your media organisation and I can feel that," said Riyas.
Veena has been facing the heat after a news report on alleged payment reportedly received by her from Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), a mining company. The report said that CMRL paid Veena and her IT firm Exalogic a sum of Rs 1.72 crore during 2017-2020 for IT services rendered. It said that the Income Tax Appellate Board, while examining the tax returns of CMRL, stumbled upon payments made to Veena and her IT firm. It was also found based on the information provided by a few CMRL officials that no services were rendered by her firm to the company.