A reported move by Enforcement Directorate to inquire into Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) has further provoked the Kerala government, with Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac alleging that it was an attempt to tarnish Kerala government as per BJP's wish.
The ED was learnt to have sought details from RBI on any permission given to KIIFB, a body corporate under the Kerala government, to issue Masala Bonds that were listed in London Stock Exchange and raised foreign funds to the tune of Rs 2,150 crore. The move came close on the heels of the Comptroller and Auditor General flaying the move as unconstitutional. The ED would be looking into any sorts of foreign exchange violations involved, said sources.
The Finance Minister alleged that it was yet another political ploy the against Kerala government. He also alleged that the central agencies were leaking out information to media.
The Kerala government had earlier strongly flayed the ED for seeking derails regarding Kerala government's flagship projects as part of probe against Chief Minister's former principal secretary M Sivasankar. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the central agencies like ED were trying to sabotage key infrastructure projects of Kerala.
Later when the CAG raised suspicions over KIIFB, the state government alleged that the CAG's move was also a political ploy of the BJP with Congress's support to attack the left-front government in Kerala.