New Delhi: Armed with sticks, stones and bricks, an “unlawful assembly” of nearly 300 people outside the residence of the former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assaulted the official vehicle of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) team raiding the premises, leaving the driver injured and the car badly damaged, the agency’s Assistant Director-level officer has alleged in a complaint to the Kerala Police.
The officer, who led the raiding team to Vijayan’s residence, where his daughter Veena also lives, complained that the personnel of the state police and Central Reserve Police Force also came under attack from the unruly mob at the spot.
Based on the complaint, the Thiruvananthapuram City Police has booked nearly 300 unknown suspects under Sections 109 (attempt to murder), 189(2) (unlawful assembly), 191(2) (rioting), 191(3) (rioting with deadly weapon), 190 (joint liability of unlawful assembly), 126(2) (wrongful restraint),296(b) (obscene acts), 132 (criminal force against public servant), 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant), 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Taposh Basumatary said that eight accused have been arrested so far.
Sources in Kerala Police said that five accused, identified as Sreejith, Deepan, Manoj, Shahil, and Nidhinraj, were arrested Wednesday. Early Thursday, the police arrested three more individuals identified as Anilkumar, Kiran and Amal. Sources further said that some of those arrested are affiliated with the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The ED was carrying out searches at Vijayan’s house, along with offices and residential premises of top executives of the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) as part of a money-laundering probe.
“The accused arrived at the house in Bakery Junction, where the Leader of the Kerala Opposition and his daughter are staying and physically assaulted the complainant, who works as an Assistant Director at the Kochi Enforcement Office, and the officers on staff duty and others, with the intention to obstruct and kill them, and with the knowledge that each of them was a member of about 300 people who were seen gathered in an unlawful group with deadly weapons (sic),” the First Information Report (FIR) filed at the Museum Police station reads.
“On 27.05.2026, at 07.15 am, the complainant and others reached the rented house of the daughter of the Leader of the Opposition and started the search.”
It adds that after conducting the search proceedings at 14.40 pm, the complainant were leaving the premise when the accused “crossed the gate from the compound and came out onto the road, armed with deadly weapons such as sticks, stones and bricks, violently attacked the complainant, surrounded the 3 cars, and hit the officer who was with the complainant with the sticks in their possession, injuring his hand, and threw stones at the driver of car, seriously injuring him and trying to kill him by throwing bricks (sic).”
Meanwhile, after the conclusion of the raids, the ED issued a statement, alleging that Veena’s one-person firm, Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, received fraudulent payments amounting to Rs 2.78 crore from CMRL under the guise of IT Consultancy Services.
“Further M/s Empower India Capital Investment Private Limited (EICPL), operated by Shri Sasidharan Kartha, Managing Director of CMRL, extended loans to Exalogic totalling Rs 50 lakh, despite Exalogic failing to make timely repayments,” an agency spokesperson said Wednesday evening.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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