ED raids linked to Pinarayi Vijayan spark fresh political showdown in Kerala

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) searches at residences linked to former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan continued to trigger sharp political reactions in Kerala on Thursday, with the Congress, CPI(M) and BJP trading allegations over the developments and the violence reported outside Vijayan’s residence.

A day after the ED carried out searches in connection with the CMRL-linked money laundering case involving Vijayan’s daughter Veena T, the Congress alleged that the central agency’s action was intended to politically “rescue” the veteran CPI(M) leader at a time when he was facing growing criticism within his own party.

Senior Congress leader and Kerala minister K Muraleedharan claimed the timing of the searches had raised suspicions.

“We suspect that the ED searches were a rescue attempt as they came at a time when Vijayan was facing severe criticism from within the party,” Muraleedharan alleged.

At the same time, he said the Congress did not support either the ED or the raids conducted by the agency and argued that such action should have been initiated when Vijayan was still serving as chief minister.

Muraleedharan, who holds the Health and Devaswom portfolios in the Congress-led UDF government, however condemned the alleged attack on vehicles carrying ED officials outside Vijayan’s rented residence in the Bakery Junction area of Thiruvananthapuram.

“Taking the law into one’s hands and disrupting law and order will not be condoned by the government,” he said.

The CPI(M), meanwhile, rejected allegations that ED officials were attacked by party workers.

Senior CPI(M) leader M Swaraj claimed the protests outside Vijayan’s residence had remained peaceful and said the Left party neither encouraged nor supported violence.

Another senior CPI(M) leader, V Sivankutty, said ED officials should have waited for protesters to calm down before attempting to leave the premises.

He also blamed the police for allegedly failing to properly assess the situation before allowing the ED vehicles to move out.

While the CPI(M) defended the protests, the BJP launched a strong counterattack, questioning why Left workers allegedly targeted ED officials if Vijayan had “nothing to hide”.

Senior BJP leader V Muraleedharan said attempts to obstruct the ED investigation through “violence and intimidation” would not succeed.

“The CPI(M) knows why the raids were delayed. They have repeatedly tried to stall the probe by approaching various High Courts. That itself shows they have something to hide,” he alleged.

BJP leader K Surendran demanded that the ED widen its investigation to include all those who allegedly received funds from Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL), and not restrict the probe only to payments linked to Veena Vijayan’s now-defunct firm Exalogic Solutions.

The ED on Wednesday conducted searches at 10 premises across Kerala, including Vijayan’s rented residence in Thiruvananthapuram and his family home in Kannur.

The searches are part of the agency’s money laundering investigation linked to transactions between CMRL and Exalogic Solutions.

According to the ED, CMRL allegedly paid around Rs 1.72 crore to Exalogic between 2017 and 2020 without receiving any services in return.

The case stems from a complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which questioned the legitimacy of certain financial transactions involving the company.

The ED has registered the case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The controversy has further intensified political tensions in Kerala just weeks after the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) defeated the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the Assembly elections, ending Vijayan’s decade-long tenure as chief minister.