LDF, UDF criticise ED searches at 'Empuraan' producer's firms

Kochi/Madurai | The ruling LDF in Kerala and the Congress-led UDF opposition on Friday claimed that the ED searches at chit fund firms belonging to Kerala-based businessman Gokulam Gopalan were triggered by his involvement as one of the producers of the Malayalam film 'L2: Empuraan'.

According to official sources, the Enforcement Directorate conducted the searches as part of a probe into an alleged Rs 1,000 crore "foreign exchange violation".

The searches were carried out at five premises across various states, including Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Kochi (Kerala), under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the sources said.

The action targets Gopalan and his company, Sree Gokulam Chit and Finance Company Pvt Ltd, for alleged FEMA violations involving Rs 1,000 crore in transactions with certain NRIs and other “unauthorised” dealings, they said.

LDF convener T P Ramakrishnan, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the CPI(M) party congress in Madurai ( Tamil Nadu) said the attacks on 'L2: Empuraan' amounted to a forced intervention in Kerala’s cultural sphere.

He called the raids on Gopalan’s firms a “cheap tactic” and urged the cultural community to unite and oppose such moves, saying they were also an attack on the freedoms enjoyed by the artistic world.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, echoed similar sentiments, stating, "The raids happened only after the movie came out."

"Everyone knows the raids were conducted because he is one of the producers of 'L2: Empuraan'," he said.

The film has drawn sharp criticism from the Sangh Parivar over certain portions, which allegedly critique right-wing politics and covertly reference the Gujarat riots.

'L2: Empuraan'—the second instalment in the 'Lucifer 'trilogy by the Prithviraj Sukumaran-Mohanlal team—has become a hot topic of debate, with the Congress and Left celebrating the film for its portrayal of right-wing ideology as "villainous", while the Sangh Parivar condemned it on social media on the day of its release, March 27.

Following the controversy, co-producer Antony Perumbavoor announced on April 1 that a little over two minutes of footage had been removed from the film.