Gokulam Gopalan, producer of the movie “L2: Empuraan
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out searches on the premises of a chit fund company of Gokulam Gopalan, the Kerala-based businessman and a producer of the movie “L2: Empuraan”, for alleged ₹1,000 crore foreign exchange violation.
The movie has courted controversy over some scenes referring to Gujarat riots of 2002 for which the lead actor and superstar Mohanlal has already apologised and promised to remove them, following criticism from BJP and other saffron outfits.
The ED officials, however, denied any linkages between the movie and the action on Friday.
The sleuths searched the premises of Sree Gopalan chit and Finance Company Ltd., the flagship outfit of the Gokulam Group of companies, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and Kochi, Kerala, under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
The ED has launched an investigation against Gopalan and his company Sree Gopalan chit and Finance Company Ltd. on charges of indulging in FEMA violations to the tune of ₹1,000 crore with certain NRIs and some related “unauthorised” transactions, the sources.
The agency is also understood to be analysing some “cheating” cases against the company for possible investigation under the anti-money laundering law.
L2: Empuraan is a sequel to the 2019 Malayalam political thriller Lucifer, in which Mohanlal played the role of Stephen Nedumpally, a mysterious figure who is later revealed to be the head of an international crime syndicate.
Directed by another Malayal4am star Prithviraj, the movie was a big hit with mostly positive reviews.
Responding to protests, Mohanlal posted on Facebook, “As an artist, it is my duty to ensure that none of my films are hostile to any political movement, ideology or religious group.”
Jhakarkhand raids
Paralley, another team of the ED, on Friday conducted multi-State searches, including at the premises of the private secretary of former Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta, as part of a money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme, official sources said.
The officials of the federal probe agency raided 21 locations in Jharkhand
Published on April 4, 2025
Source link
[ad_3]
[ad_4]