“Hit the target, then take shelter at the party office” has long been seen as a standard operating pattern of Communist cadres in Kerala. This was part of a carefully designed ecosystem meant to protect party workers who carry out tasks at the behest of senior leaders. In the past, the latter stages were well managed through the state machinery controlled by Communists who are in positions of legal power. However, after losing such power, that template appears to have changed, with the party eventually being compelled to hand over workers accused of involvement in violence to the police.
On 27 May, tension prevailed outside the CPM office in Thiruvananthapuram, where the accused had reportedly taken shelter after attacking ED officers.
The police identified and arrested four individuals from the party office late in the evening.
Initially, the party leaders formed a human shield comprising elderly men, women, and SFI workers outside the office and declared that the police could enter only over their dead bodies.
However, the CPM and the Keralam police later reportedly reached an understanding, following which party leaders handed over four individuals to the police.
Later, the Keralam police arrested another person from a different part of the city. They were taken into custody under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (now re-enacted as Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Vyavastha). Reports suggest that another individual was arrested on 28 May.
Meanwhile, the ED has reportedly frozen bank accounts worth Rs 18.36 crore belonging to Veena Vijayan, daughter of Pinarayi Vijayan, CPM supremo, former Chief Minister, and incumbent Leader of the Opposition. The amount is reportedly spread across 242 accounts. ED officers had seized Veena’s bank documents during their raid on 27 May.
In a press release issued during the day, the ED stated its Kochi zonal office has conducted search operations on May 27 under PMLA, 2002 at 10 premises across Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kannur, Trivandrum and Bangalore belonging to M/s Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), its Directors S. N. Sasidharan Kartha, Saran S. Kartha, Smt Veena [daughter of Sh. P. Vijayan, Ex CM of Keralam] and her company M/s Exalogic Solutions Private Limited.
During the search operations, various incriminating records/ accounts, digital evidences, Investments/Bank FD were found and seized.
The investigating agency has freezed about Rs. 18.36 Crore in around 242 accounts identified during the search operations and said evidences recovered are being analyzed.
The ED stated that one of its search teams was attacked by a group of people after the conclusion of the search operation at the premises of Veena Vijayan and P. Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram. According to the agency, the crowd attacked the ED team’s vehicles with bricks and iron rods without any provocation.
The agency claimed that the nature of the assault indicated that the attack was pre-planned rather than a spontaneous reaction. Three vehicles carrying ED officials and CRPF personnel were reportedly attacked and vandalised during the incident. One of the drivers sustained an eye injury in the attack.
The ED further stated that its officials followed due process during the operation and neither resisted the crowd nor did the CRPF personnel resort to aggression against the protesters. The agency has lodged an FIR with the Thiruvananthapuram Police seeking legal action against those involved in the attack.
However, the attack on the ED’s vehicles still remains a mystery as per Congress government.
Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala told the media that the ED had not informed the Home Ministry or the police about the raid.
As standard procedure, ED raids are generally conducted in this manner, with the police usually informed only after the raids commence. Notably, the violence began several hours after the raids had started, giving the police ample time to intervene and contain the situation.
Reacting on these developments, BJP leader K. Surendran stated that cases should be registered against CPM leaders such as state secretary M.V. Govindan, Katakampalli Surendran, and the party’s two Rajya Sabha MPs. He cited their presence outside Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence during the day, when CPM workers were raising anti-ED slogans.
