The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday carried out searches at the residence of former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his son-in-law P A Mohamed Riyas and several others in connection with its probe into the CMRL money laundering case, officials said.
Raids are being conducted at a total of 10 premises across Kerala, including Vijayan’s rented residence in Thiruvananthapuram, armed central security personnel stood guard outside the two-storey house at Bakery junction.
He had shifted to this house after vacating the Cliff House following the assembly election.
Raids are also taking place at Riyas' residence in Kozhikode.
Searches are also underway at the residences of senior CMRL officials simultaneously, reports said.
As the news of the raid emerged, party workers and leaders began assembling outside the house gate, which was guarded by central armed police forces.
The CPM members led by state secretary M V Govindan sat outside the residence in protest against the ED action denouncing it as politically-motivated move by the central government.
As the raid stretched into the afternoon, the mood of the protest changed. The protest march of the SFI by that time reached place and that led to a charged up environment. The protestors hurled footwear and water bottles at the central police personnel.
Violence broke out outside Vijayan's residence after the ED officials completed the raid and were leaving the premises.
According to visuals shown on news channels, suspected CPI(M) workers gathered outside Vijayan's rented home and protested against the raid.
The situation escalated as some protesters blocked the vehicle carrying ED officials and threw stones at it.
Police and central security personnel struggled to control the crowd.
The vehicle, which also had women officials on board, was targeted during the incident.
The windshield of the vehicle was broken in the incident.
The ED action came after the High Court declined to quash the ED proceedings and cancellation of the summons issued by the central agency. The ED charge is that Exalogic, an IT firm owned by Veena T, daughter of the former CM, received Rs 1.72 crore from the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) over years for IT services, which were never delivered.
The allegation is that the payment was instead used to settle debts of Veena's company and thus passing down liability to the publicly-listed company.
"ED is doing search action on 10 premises in Kerala in connection with Cochin minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) case. Ex CM of Keralam and his daughter being covered. Issue is funds diverted from CMRL to various individuals under the guise of expenses which are fake. Ex CM Vijayan’s daughter is one of the beneficiaries," a statement released by the agency read.
The ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2024 to investigate the allegations.
CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby condemned the raids , terming it a “targeted attack” on a top Opposition leader by the BJP-led government. He said such actions would not intimidate Pinarayi Vijayan or the CPI(M).
“Is the UDF government complicit in this raid?” Baby questioned, adding that the party would continue to resist what it described as political vendetta.
Citing reports, he claimed that two ministers in the cabinet of current Chief Minister V D Satheesan also allegedly received money from the Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd (CMRL) and the same should have been investigated.
He said such moves will not intimidate the CPI(M) or Vijayan and "anyone who thought it would, did not know the party or its leader very well".
Recalling Vijayan's past experience as a Communist leader, CPI(M) leader Baby said that the former Kerala CM was arrested and faced brutal police assault when he was an MLA during the emergency declared by Indira Gandhi.
Amid the search, former minister Mohammed Riyas posted on Facebook stating that he will continue to fight against the Sangh Parivar till his last breath.
In the social media post, Riyas wrote: “You may attack me from all sides... but I will not bow before the Sangh Parivar. I will fight till my last breath.”
CPI(M) workers assembled outside Vijayan's residence in Pinarayi village in Kannur district and raised slogans against the ED, CPM leaders staged a sit-in protest in front of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence at Bakery Junction. Several leaders including former minister V. Sivankutty, MLA V. Joy, Anavoor Nagappan, V.K. Prasanth, and Bineesh Kodiyeri took part in the protest.
The protest on the road in the state capital followed an emergency secretariat meeting at the AKG Centre.
In his reaction, Senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan alleged that the ED raids at the residence of Vijayan and others were part of a "joint Congress-BJP operation" and their "grand design".
Speaking to reporters outside Vijayan's home in Kannur, he said the searches followed the meeting between Kerala CM V D Satheesan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Menon Satheesan and Modi had a meeting. Right after that, raids were carried out at the permanent and rented homes of Vijayan and the house of his son-in-law P A Mohamed Riyas."
"This is all part of a clear planning, a grand design. I believe the people will see it for what it truly is," he added.
Meanwhile, Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said that neither the state police nor the Home Department had prior knowledge of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) search operations.
Responding to CPIM's allegation of the raids being a part of the 'BJP-UDF deal,' as the action comes a day after CM Satheesan's meeting with PM Modi, he said that during Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s tenure, he had met the Prime Minister in Delhi several times, and such interactions were part of official procedures.
Chennithala also added that the ED had not sought any assistance from the Kerala Police for the search operations.
(With inputs from PTI)
