Kozhikode, Sep 10 (IANS) A close friend of former Kerala minister and CPI(M) MLA P.A. Mohammed Riyas has alleged that the Enforcement Directorate forced him to give a false statement against the legislator in connection with the CMRL-Exalogic monthly payment case.
Businessman Hasan Waris has told the ED Director in an affidavit that the statement he gave to the agency on August 18 was made under severe mental pressure and was not voluntary.
He has sought permission to withdraw the statement, saying it has no legal validity.
Waris alleged that ED officials prepared a statement implicating Riyas and forced him to sign it.
He claimed that he was threatened with action against his 22-year-old daughter if he refused to make the statement.
According to Waris, the officials told him that his daughter could be made an accused, arrested under non-bailable provisions and kept in jail for years.
He also alleged that his request to use his mobile phone to contact his lawyer was rejected.
Waris has denied receiving any financial assistance from Riyas or his relatives.
He has also denied transferring money to anyone at Riyas’s direction.
The ED, however, has maintained that it has evidence showing that money was transferred to Waris.
The development comes after Riyas strongly rejected allegations attributed to the ED in its probe.
In a social media post, he described the reports as absurdities, saying that if such claims were part of an ED report leaked to the media, they were deliberately fabricated to tarnish his reputation.
Riyas also rejected reports that his wife, T. Veena, had admitted such allegations before the ED.
He described that claim as an outright lie.
“Let those who enjoy feeding on the flesh of living human beings through such absurd information leaked in the name of an ED investigation continue their spectacle,” Riyas said.
He said he would fight the matter legally.
The ED has alleged that Riyas received Rs 20.5 crore during 2024-25 while he was a minister and that the money was transferred to Dubai to establish a company.
The agency has reportedly alleged that transactions were routed through the accounts of his associates.
Riyas has denied the allegations and termed them politically motivated.
The latest allegations by Waris could now put the focus on the circumstances in which his statement was recorded and its evidentiary value in the ongoing investigation.
With the ED now handing over a 25-page statement directing the Kerala Police to register a case and the Satheesan government engaged in a hectic legal consultation on the way forward, for Riyas and his father-in-law, former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the three-day extended state committee meeting beginning on Saturday could well be closely watched.
Already the party politburo on late Wednesday has come out with a strong defence of Vijayan; it remains to be seen if the 300-strong extended state committee could well give the thumbs up to both Vijayan and Riyas.
–IANS
sg/dpb