ED raid at closed finance lending firm in Thiruvalla; search to know truth about Tantri's investment

KOLLAM: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting a raid at the closed finance lending firm in Thiruvalla. The raid began Thursday morning at the institution and house of former Kerala Congress (M) president and owner of the Nedumparambil Credit Syndicate, N M Raju. This is the firm where the Special Investigation Team (SIT) suspects that former Sabarimala Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru had deposited money. The police have earlier arrested the owner of the institution, N M Raju, in investment fraud.

Reports say the raid was conducted on suspicion of Kandararu Rajeevaru depositing around Rs 2.5 crore in this firm. The information about the investment came to light during the interrogation conducted by the SIT in the gold theft case. This firm, which had 152 branches, was later closed and the investors had lost money. However, the fact that Tantri not filing a complaint despite complaints from other investors who had lost money, raised more suspicions.

The ED is mainly investigating the investment fraud and the black money transactions that took place through it. The details will be collected on the source of the money invested by Tantri and the method of investment. The ED is also examining whether these transactions have any connection with the gold theft case.