CMRL-Exalogic pay-off case: Sasidharan Kartha too retracted statement to ED

S.N. Sasidharan Kartha, the managing director of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), had also submitted a retraction affidavit to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2024 in connection with statements recorded in the Exalogic-CMRL pay-off case, it has now emerged.

CMRL’s former Chief Financial Officer and Chief General Manager P. Suresh Kumar, along with the current Chief General Manager, had similarly submitted retraction affidavits to the ED in 2024.

Mr. Kartha was interrogated by the ED at his residence on April 17, 2024. In his statement recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Mr. Kartha allegedly admitted to transferring funds to vendors and withdrawing cash without genuine expenses. He also admitted to payments made to T. Veena, daughter of former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and her now-defunct firm Exalogic Solutions Pvt. Ltd. without services rendered, citing personal relationships with Mr. Vijayan.

In an email to CMRL dated May 15, 2024, Mr. Kartha’s brother N. Ajith alleged that ED officials had forcefully recorded his brother’s statements. “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 May 15, 2024,” the mail read.

On September 7, 2026, the ED sent a detailed report to the State Police Chief seeking registration of a separate FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act and other relevant laws against Mr. Vijayan, former Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas, and Ms. Veena, who is Mr. Riyas’s spouse. The report accused Mr. Vijayan of receiving a bribe of ₹3.28 crore through his daughter, based on the alleged admission of Mr. Suresh Kumar.

Mr. Kumar later submitted a retraction affidavit to the ED Directorate in Delhi, alleging “illegal and high-handed conduct of the officers of the Kochi office of the ED.”

“I felt intimidated and pressurised during the recording of my statements,” Mr. Kumar, who has since resigned from CMRL, said in a mail to the company dated May 15, 2024, the same day he submitted the retraction statement to the ED.

At a press conference held on September 11, 2026, following the ED’s report to the State Police Chief, Mr. Riyas, a CPI(M) State secretariat member, alleged that the investigative agency was intimidating individuals into issuing statements against him, Ms. Veena, and Mr. Vijayan.

Incidentally, Mr. Suresh Kumar, the current Chief General Manager of CMRL, also submitted a similarly worded retraction statement to the ED and mailed CMRL about the same on May 15, 2024.