We will not be cowed down, says Vijayan after ED raids end amid high drama, agency vehicles vandalised

Thiruvananthapuram/Kannur/Kozhikode: Former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday broke his silence soon after Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials ended marathon searches at residences linked to him and his family, accusing the BJP government of using central agencies to target political opponents and asserting that his CPI-M would collectively face the challenge, even as party workers targeted the agency officials and their vehicles.

These raids took place a day after the Kerala High Court lifted the stay in the ED probe into the CMRL-Exalogic case – the IT firm of Veena Vijayan, the daughter of Vijayan.

“Some people like (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi would be happy, as the narrative by him was why Pinarayi Vijayan is not being arrested. The BJP government has always targeted political adversaries. The Congress also took the stand that if not their leaders, then there is no issue. But we are not going to be cowed down. Our party has always stood united in such situations, and today too our comrades have proved it,” Vijayan told reporters outside his residence in Thiruvananthapuram after the seven-hour-long raid ended.

“At this moment I will say only this much, though I have a lot more to say,” he added.

The ED searches concluded after nearly seven hours at Vijayan’s rented residence in Thiruvananthapuram, his Kannur home, and the Kozhikode residence of Beypore MLA and former minister P. A. Mohammed Riyas, husband of Veena Vijayan.

In Kannur, huge crowds of CPI-M workers had gathered outside Vijayan’s residence from early morning, raising slogans against the ED and the BJP-led Centre.

Before leaving, ED officials reportedly briefed Kannur district CPI-M Secretary K. K. Ragesh and Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem Sivadasan on the searches.

Senior leaders P. Jayarajan and M. V. Jayarajan later entered the house.

Soon afterwards, M.V. Jayarajan announced to cheering cadres that the searches had ended and nothing was found, triggering loud celebrations outside.

At Thiruvananthapuram, tensions briefly escalated during the raid after some agitated workers allegedly threw empty bottles towards central force personnel guarding the premises.

Later, as the ED officials exited around 2.35 p.m., angry protesters damaged the windshield of one of the vehicles carrying officials, including women officers, even as CPI-M state Secretary M. V. Govindan and other leaders were present.

The police remained mute witnesses to the sudden attack unleashed by the party workers.

In Kozhikode too, police struggled to escort the ED officials safely from Riyas’s residence amid intense protests.

Riyas’s legal counsel accused the agency of human rights violations, alleging that his aged parents were effectively kept confined during the operation.

Riyas, who reached home after the officials had left, defended his wife’s business dealings.

“Veena has always cooperated with the probe. What she did was entirely legal. We will not surrender before such intimidation,” he said.

IANS