Thiruvananthapuram, April 10 (IANS) A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan burst out at the media for focussing on his daughter Veena Vijayan currently under the radar of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) over allegations of her (now defunct) IT firm receiving monthly gratification from Kochi-based Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) for mining sanctions, top Congress leaders on Thursday took pot shots at him for losing his cool.

State Congress President and Kannur MP K. Sudhakaran slammed Vijayan for his outbursts against the media.

"It’s understandable why Vijayan is now behaving as if his bearings have gone is because he knows the game is over as his daughter is now entangled in knots through the charge sheet filed by the SFIO and also with two other national agencies reaching her doorstep," he said.

"The first narrative of Vijayan was that his daughter was not heard by the probe agencies. But now with the probe agency taking statements from both parties (Veena and CMRL), he is not saying this now. Now he says all the taxes have been paid by his daughter’s firm for services given to the CMRL. He is rattled as he knows things do not augur well," Sudhakaran said.

Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said there is no reason for Vijayan to lose his cool and turn his ire towards the media.

"This cannot be seen as a case which has political overtones, as the national agencies have gone forward based on documents. Instead of haunting the media, he should deal with the case legally, as things are very grave in the case against his daughter," he said.

At his media interaction on Wednesday, Vijayan, facing a flurry of questions from the media over the case against his daughter, said: "All this is happening because it’s me. Our party has also said the same. So if you have any other questions other than this, I will answer. This case is being highlighted as she is my daughter."

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the ED officials reached the court in Kochi, where the SFIO has filed its charge sheet in the case against Veena Vijayan for a copy of it, clearly implying the ED will also probe the case as it involves alleged money laundering.