Thiruvananthapuram, May 27 (PTI) Police on Wednesday arrested 4 persons in connection with the violent attack on the vehicles carrying ED officials who raided former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan's rented house.

The arrests were made following several hours of a stand-off with party workers and leaders outside a CPI(M) area committee office at Palayam here.

While the party leaders, including former ministers V Sivankutty and Kadamkampally Surendran, MLA V Joy and Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, refused to allow police entry to the office, a large number of police personnel stood outside.

The party leaders claimed that none of the persons involved in the attack on the ED officials' vehicles was present in the CPI(M) office and said police would not be allowed to enter it while they were alive.

The police too refused to withdraw from there, saying they suspected that the culprits were inside the party office.

Following this, there were several rounds of discussions between senior police officers and the party leaders outside the CPI(M) office.

Later, a DCP-rank officer told reporters that of the 12 persons identified to be directly involved in the attack, four have been taken into custody, and more remain to be arrested.

He said that it cannot be said whether the arrested persons were inside the Palayam area committee office of the party, as the police did not enter it.

However, visuals on TV channels showed some persons allegedly involved in the attack coming out of the office and being arrested subsequently.

The alleged accused came out of the office following discussions between senior police officers and the party leaders.

The DCP said that the police presence outside the CPI(M) office will continue for now and will be withdrawn as per the situation.

He said obstructing government servants and attacking their vehicles was a criminal act, and all the culprits will be arrested.

He denied there was any lapse in arranging security for the ED officials outside Vijayan's rented house, saying "we had the manpower".

ADGP (Law and Order) H Venkatesh told reporters that there was a slight lapse despite there being a large number of police personnel and security arrangements in place at the site.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids were linked to the financial dealings between Vijayan’s daughter's firm and a sand mining company.

A total of 10 premises in Kerala, including Vijayan's rented house at Bakery Junction here and his permanent residence in Kannur, were raided by the ED as part of its investigation against his daughter, Veena T, in the CMRL money laundering case.

The action was taken a day after the Kerala High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) seeking to quash the ED proceedings, thereby allowing the central agency to continue its probe.

The ED probe stems from a complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office after the interim board for settlement of the Income Tax Department questioned the legitimacy of certain transactions undertaken by CMRL with Veena's now-defunct firm.

According to the ED's case, registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2024, CMRL allegedly made an illegal payment of Rs 1.72 crore to Veena's company, Exalogic Solutions, between 2017 and 2020, even though the IT firm had not provided any services to the company. PTI HMP ADB

Money laundering probe linked to ED raids, vehicle attack and arrests amid stand-off outside party office Violent attack on vehicles carrying Enforcement Directorate officials led to arrests, with police identifying several persons as directly involved and maintaining a presence outside a CPI(M) office during a stand-off. The ED action formed part of a wider money laundering probe linked to financial dealings between a former Chief Minister's daughter's firm and a sand mining company, arising from questions over transactions between CMRL and a now-defunct firm under a Prevention of Money Laundering Act case.