ED visits Kerala labour organisation in gold probe

Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the gold smuggling and other cases in Kerala visited the office of the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society Ltd at Kozhikode.

Thiruvananthapuram:The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the gold smuggling and other cases in Kerala on Monday came to the office of the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS) Ltd at Kozhikode.

This became instant news on the various TV channels forcing the society chairman P. Ramesh to issue a statement that it was wrong for the media to say that there was an ED raid.

In his statement he said that while it was true that the ED came to their office, only one officer came in and examined the records.

"We were asked if there was any relation with anyone presently under the ED probe with the society. We said none has any relation with them and they were convinced of it and the official left. They perused our Income Tax files and they were convinced," said Ramesh.

The Uralungal group's parent company is the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society Ltd, formed in 1925, which was started by the labourers as a cooperative society catering to the needs of the lower strata in northern Kerala.

The ULCCS, today, is among the largest workers' cooperatives in Asia and is the first choice for construction and infrastructure development.

In 2016 the then President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the IT Park of the society. The Park has more than 2,000 employees working in 72 IT companies and the final project would see 32 lakh square feet space when ready by 2025, with a projected work force of over 50,000.

One reason why the media took up this news of the ED at the society office in a big way is because the ED is expecting the arrival of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's assistant private secretary C.M. Ravindran, before them anytime.

On two occasions this month the ED had served a notice to Ravindran to appear before them, but on the first occasion he failed to appear after he informed them that he had turned Covid positive and on the second occasion, two days before he was to have appeared he got admitted to the Medical College hospital here after complaining of breathlessness.

He has since been discharged and in the past two days ED officials have been visiting business establishments in Kozhikode and Kannur district, where Ravindran is alleged to have business interests.

IANS REPORT