Gokulam Gopalan ED raid: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at the offices of Kerala-based businessman and film producer Gokulam Gopalan on Friday in connection with an alleged foreign exchange violation case.
According to official sources of PTI, the searches were carried out under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in multiple locations, including Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Kochi (Kerala).
One of the key locations raided was Gopalan’s financial institution’s office in Kodambakkam, Chennai. Reports suggest that an ED team from Kerala executed the operation, but further details of the probe remain undisclosed.
Gokulam Gopalan is the head of Sree Gokulam Group of Companies, which operates in various sectors, including finance, hospitality, and entertainment.
Controversy Surrounding “L2: Empuraan”
The ED raids have also drawn attention due to Gopalan’s role as one of the producers of the controversial Malayalam film “L2: Empuraan”, the sequel to the blockbuster “Lucifer”.
The Prithviraj-Mohanlal political thriller trilogy has been at the center of heated debates, particularly for its alleged critique of right-wing politics and references to the Gujarat riots. Amid the controversy, Mohanlal recently expressed regret over the uproar and assured that certain contentious portions would be removed from the film.
The Mohanlal-starrer Empuraan remains under intense scrutiny even after undergoing 24 cuts and substantial edits. Earlier,articles in the RSS mouthpiece Organiser had pressured the film’s team into making revisions and questioned director Prithviraj Sukumaran and screenwriter Murali Gopy.
The revised version of the film hit screens on Wednesday. Later, the ‘Organiser’ piece argued that despite changes to character names and dialogue, the film continued to carry what it describes as “anti-Hindu undertones”, as reported by IANS.
In another row, Tamil Nadu MP Vaiko demanded a complete ban on the film due to its portrayal of Mullaperiyar Dam. The MP alleged that the film showed the Dam as ‘unsafe’ and promoted fear among the people of Kerala.