ED questions 'L2: Empuraan' producer Gopalan in chit fund case

Kochi: The Enforcement Directorate on Monday questioned Gokulam Gopalan, one of the producers of the Malayalam movie L2: Empuraan, at its Kochi office in connection with a foreign exchange law "violation" by his chit fund company, sources said.

The federal probe agency recorded the Kerala-based businessman's statement under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, they said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is said to have questioned him earlier during searches conducted in the case last week in Kozhikode and Chennai.

The agency has said it seized Rs 1.5 crore in cash after searching the premises of Sree Gokulam Chits and Finance Co Pvt Ltd, the chit fund company owned by Gopalan.

The producer could not be contacted for a response on the allegations made against him and his company by the probe agency.

The ED searches came in the backdrop of the recent controversy surrounding L2: Empuraan, the second movie in the Lucifer trilogy.

Touted as one of the costliest Malayalam cinema productions, L2: Empuraan was released on March 27 and soon became a topic of hot debate over its critique of right-wing politics and covert mention of the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The other producers of the film are Antony Perumbavoor and A Subaskaran under the banners of Aashirvad Cinemas and Lyca Productions, respectively.

According to Perumbavoor, a little over two minutes of scenes were deleted from the movie following the controversy.

In a statement last week, ED said it has gathered "specific" intelligence that Sree Gokulam Chits and Finance was collecting subscription to chit funds from people residing outside India without due authorisation.

"The subscription amounts from these people were being collected in cash in violation of the regulations framed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This led to the violation of Regulation 4(b) of Foreign Exchange Management (Permissible Capital Account Transactions) Regulations, 2000 read with circular No 107 dated June 11, 2015 issued by the RBI," the agency claimed.

The company collected Rs 3,71.80 crore in cash from people residing outside India and Rs 220.74 crore through cheques from the same category of people, it said.

L2: Empuraan was directed by actor Prithviraj Sukumaran, who also featured in the film alongside Malayalam superstar Mohanlal.