Attack on ED officials serious offence: Kerala CM Satheesan

Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan on Friday said that the attack on ED officials after a search at Marxist veteran Pinarayi Vijayan’s rented residence was a serious offence.

Breaking his silence on the issue, Satheesan told reporters here that what happened was a serious crime and that those involved could be classified as criminals, as they attacked an ED team that also included women officials.

“Attacking investigators and damaging their vehicles is a serious offence, and it should not be repeated. That is our position,” he said, terming the violence as “cruel” and urging the CPI(M) not to encourage it. He praised state Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala for deploying police force to the places where searches were being carried out on seeing the increase in the crowd gathering at those places, even though neither the police nor the Home Department had received any information from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) about the search. The CM said that the state Government and police intervened when there was a law-and-order issue, and “we have taken strong action in the matter,” and there was no lapse on the part of the law-and-order agency.

Justifying the search by the ED, Satheesan said it was carried out in connection with a case already registered by a central agency and it was an ongoing investigation. He said that the Congress-led UDF too had raised allegations against Vijayan’s daughter of having financial deals with a mining firm, CMRL, and that forms part of the ED probe.

He further said that the UDF had complaints about the central agency investigation itself, as it was a four-year-old case, and nothing was done till the LDF Government stepped down from power.