ED raid on Pinarayi trigger protests

Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids linked to the financial dealings between former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter’s firm and a sand mining company triggered attacks on central agency officials in the State capital and Statewide protests by CPI(M) leaders and workers on Wednesday.

Severe violence broke out outside Vijayan’s rented residence after ED officials completed the raid and were leaving the premises.

CPI(M) workers attacked at least three vehicles, including the one carrying ED officials, outside Vijayan’s residence, even as the police failed to prevent the violent mob. There were six ED officials in the vehicle, including a woman.

The raids were carried out while eight central security personnel guarded the premises. Hearing about the raids at the CPI(M) veteran’s residence, party workers and activists from its allied organisations gathered outside Vijayan’s rented house and staged a protest.

As the ED officials and central security personnel who took part in the raid left his home, the situation escalated, with protesters surrounding and blocking their hired vehicles and throwing stones and bricks at them, badly damaging the windshields, other windows and exterior rear-view mirrors.

The large number of protesters, shouting slogans against the ED and the Centre, kicked the vehicles, banged their fists and sticks on the windows and windshields, and even threw rotten eggs at them.

One of the drivers of the vehicles sustained an injury.

The ED officials then went to the Thampanoor police station to lodge a complaint against the protesters. Police and central security personnel struggled to control the crowd as the vehicles, which also had a female official on board, were targeted during the incident. Later, Police arrested for CPI(M) workers for attacking the ED officials..

Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said that the Home Department and the Kerala Police had no prior information about the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid. “We were not informed, and police assistance was not sought. The ED used central forces to carry out the raids,” he said.

The BJP strongly condemned the attack on ED officials, calling it an assault on the rule of law. In a post on X, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “Violence is the last refuge of the corrupt.” Attacking officials on duty and obstructing an investigation is not a political protest. It is an assault on the rule of law, the BJP MLA said. He alleged, “As usual, the Congress-led state Government is keeping quiet to protect its political twin, the CPI(M).

He further added that the BJP-NDA would ensure that the investigation is not derailed.

Earlier, angry CPI(M) workers hurled helmets, plastic bottles and stones at security personnel deployed outside Vijayan’s house while ED searches were underway inside.

Vijayan alleged that the ED searches at his premises were part of a targeted crackdown on opposition leaders across the country. Speaking to reporters after ED officials concluded hours-long searches at his house at Bakery Junction, Vijayan said such actions would not weaken him or the CPI(M).

“This is only the beginning. Nobody should harbour the illusion that such actions can intimidate or weaken us,” he said.

The veteran CPI(M) leader alleged that the BJP-led Centre has been using central agencies against opposition leaders since it came to power, and claimed that the action against him was also part of that strategy.

The ED carried out the raids a day after the Kerala High Court dismissed a petition filed by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited and its top officials challenging an Enforcement Directorate (ED) money laundering probe linked to alleged financial irregularities involving Vijayan’s daughter, Veena T, and her software firm Exalogic Solutions.

In a judgment delivered on May 26, Justice T R Ravi ruled that the ED was legally empowered to continue its investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), even before the filing of a formal FIR or final report by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

The company had approached the court seeking to quash the ED’s Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), summons issued to its officials, and related proceedings. It argued that the ED lacked jurisdiction because no scheduled offence existed when the probe began.

The case traces back to Income Tax raids conducted in January 2019 at the company’s offices and the residences of senior executives. Later, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs ordered an SFIO investigation into the company’s affairs following a complaint filed by BJP leader Shone George. During the hearing, the ED informed the court that the SFIO had since filed a complaint in April 2025 alleging offences under the Companies Act, including fraud provisions that qualify as scheduled offences under the PMLA.

As the raids were progressing at various locations, CPI(M) leaders and workers held protest marches in various districts across the state.

CPI(M) leader K N Balagopal alleged that the ED’s “politically motivated witch-hunt targeting Comrade Vijayan” was part of a broader political agenda aimed at weakening the CPI(M) and the Left.

Responding to the CPI(M)’s charge, BJP leader V Muraleedharan said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “better things to do” than strike any deal with the Congress to target the CPI(M), which he said had limited national presence.