ED searches are being conducted in Chennai and Kochi under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) on the pretext of investigating chit-fund operations.
Amid the 'L2: Empuraan' movie controversy, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at offices of Kerala-based businessman Gokulam Gopalan, who is one of the producers of the movie, and some others as part of an alleged foreign exchange violation case, officials told PTI.
The sources told PTI that searches are being conducted in Chennai and Kochi under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) on the pretext of investigating chit-fund operations.
Gokulam Gopalan is one of the producers of the Mohanlal-starer movie L2: Empuraan. Meanwhile, despite protests from the right-wing, the movie has been released in theatres.
According to a report by India Today, Gokulam owns Sree Gokulam Chits, which has offices in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Puducherry, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry, and Haryana.
Reports also suggest that this is not the first time, when Sree Gokulam Chits has come under agency raids.
Citing Income Tax officials, India Today reported that the company hid a large part of its income. This included money recovered from bad debts and interest. The company did not report Rs 1,107 crore of income over five years, so they probably didn't pay a lot of taxes.
In August 2019, his son, Byju Gopalan, was jailed in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly forging documents.
'L2: Empuraan', the second part of the Lucifer movie, a trilogy planned by the Prithviraj-Mohanlal team, has become a topic of hot debate over its critique of right-wing politics and the covert mention of the Gujarat riots.
Mohanlal recently expressed regret over the raging row and assured that the controversial portions would be removed from the movie.