Thiruvananthapuram, May 27 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted searches at the residences of former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family members as part of its money laundering probe linked to the CMRL case involving his daughter, officials said.

A total of 10 premises in the capital city, Ernakulam, Kannur and Bengaluru (Karnataka) were covered under the raids that began around 7 am accompanied by a security escort provided by CAPF personnel.

The searched premises included the rental house of the 81-year-old former chief minister located at the Bakery Junction area here, the Kozhikode residence of his son-in-law and former minister P A Mohammed Riyas, a Vijayan family house in Kannur and other locations linked to "key persons" of Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd (CMRL), a private entity.

The action was taken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.

Vijayan's house has been searched as the probe involves his daughter Veena Vijayan, they said. The former CM was at his house during the searches.

The officials added that documents related to investments and fixed deposits were recovered during the searches.

As the ED team was leaving Vijayan's residence, violence broke out.

Suspected CPI(M) workers gathered outside his Bakery Junction residence who were protesting the raid. The situation escalated as some protesters allegedly blocked the vehicle carrying ED officials and threw stones at it.

Police and central security personnel struggled to control the crowd. The vehicle, which also had women officials on board, was allegedly targeted during the incident. The windshield of a vehicle was also broken in the incident.

ED officials said they would lodge a police complaint regarding the "attack" on their teams.

The veteran CPI(M) leader later alleged that the searches at his premises were part of a targeted crackdown on opposition leaders across the country.

Speaking to reporters after ED officials left, Vijayan said such actions would not weaken him or the CPI(M).

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

Vijayan was unseated from power after the Congress-led UDF won the Assembly elections in Kerala last month.

The two-term former chief minister (2016-2026) has now been nominated for the position of leader of the opposition in the Kerala Assembly by his party.

The ED probe pertains to an allegation that CMRL made fraudulent payments worth Rs 2.78 crore to Veena's company Exalogic Solutions Private Limited under the guise of IT Consultancy Services.

Another company named Empower India Capital Investment Private Limited (EICPL), operated by CMRL MD Sasidharan Kartha, also extended Rs 50 lakh worth of loans to Exalogic despite the company (Exalogic) failing to make timely repayments, according to the ED.

The agency claims that the management of CMRL (led by Kartha) and Veena generated "proceeds of crime" in this process.

The central agency launched the action after the Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a writ petition filed by CMRL seeking to quash the ED proceedings in the case. The court held that the initiation of the PMLA investigation is valid saying the SFIO prosecution complaint was the predicate offence for starting ED proceedings.

The agency filed the PMLA case based on the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) prosecution complaint filed before a court in Ernakulam in April 2025. The SFIO is the investigation arm of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

CMRL drew the attention of central probe agencies after it was raided by the Income Tax Department in January 2019 during which certain alleged fake expenses to the extent of about Rs 130 crore were identified.

Officials said these "fake" expenses were admitted by CMRL before the Income Tax Settlement Commission and later a complaint was made to the SFIO.

The SFIO said in its prosecution complaint that fictitious cash expenses of Rs 182 crore were made in CMRL over a span of 15 years and that it paid Rs 91 crore towards transport services to the companies owned by the Kartha family. PTI NES LGK TGB KVK KVK