ED conducts search at Empuraan producer's offices in Tamil Nadu, Kerala

India Today

The Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches at premises of Gokulam Chit Fund, owned by Empuran movie producer Gokulam Gopalan, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The searches are related to a Foreign Exchange Violation Act case. In the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the controversial Mullaperiyar Dam scene in Empuran was discussed, with Chief Minister Stalin confirming its removal after public outrage.

Transcript

00:00All right, breaking news coming in.

00:02In light of the massive controversy surrounding the Malayalam film Empuran, now you've got

00:08the enforcement directorate conducting searches at the premises of one of the producers of

00:14Empuran movie.

00:15This is the Gokulam Chit Fund in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, a very, very prominent group in

00:20the south.

00:21Gokulam Gopalan is one of the producers of Empuran movie and Gokulam Gopalan's group,

00:28which is the Gokulam Chit Funds, is currently being searched by the enforcement directorate.

00:34Is this linked to Empuran or is there some other investigation that the agency is currently

00:40conducting?

00:41At this point, we're yet to get those details, but searches right now happening at some of

00:46the Gokulam Chit Fund setups in Tamil Nadu as well as Kerala, multiple locations where

00:53raids are happening in the two states right now.

00:56Now Gokulam Chit Funds is owned by Gokulam Gopalan, he's one of the producers of the

01:01Empuran movie.

01:02Let me bring in Munish Pandey for more details on the story.

01:05Munish, are these raids linked to the fact that Gokulam is one of the producers of Empuran

01:11movie or is this his Chit Fund company that's being raided?

01:14Well, Akshita, at this point of time, we have enjoyed to understand is that the ED is conducting

01:20searches at multiple locations in connection with the Gokulam Chit Fund case in Tamil Nadu

01:26and the searches also in Kerala.

01:28Now, this is not a money laundering case, this is a case which has been lost by the

01:32ED under Foreign Exchange Violation Act and we have been given to understand is that E.M.

01:40Gopalan, who is popularly known as Gokulam Gopalan, he is the one who owns C. Gokulam

01:47Chit and that is why the premises linked to him are being searched not only in Tamil Nadu

01:54but also in Kerala, Telangana, Puducherry, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana.

02:05Now, we have been given to understand is that, you know, earlier the Income Tax Department

02:13had initiated an investigation couple of years back and in that time, the Income Tax Department

02:21passed on this information to the Enforcement Directorate saying that there are manipulations

02:27as far as funds are concerned, there are bad loans, bad debts and there is unaccounted

02:34money which is linked to this entire Chit Fund and that is why, you know, at this point

02:40of time, multiple locations are being searched, Akshita, as we speak.

02:47Thanks very much for joining us with those details, we will try to get the latest updates

02:52that come in on these E.D. searches that are currently taking place.

03:04The Emperon controversy has also come up for discussion in the Tamil Nadu assembly, particularly

03:12scenes showing the Mullaperiyar dam issue in the film.

03:17Now, this particular film, endless controversy, one scene on the Mullaperiyar dam issue was

03:25also there and that's now been brought up in the Tamil Nadu assembly.

03:30Now, Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan has spoken about this saying that the

03:37Mullaperiyar dam issue being portrayed in such a manner, they have objected to.

03:44Only after the news came out, only after there was some sort of opposition, did you see action?

04:07Initially, the censor did nothing.

04:11Only once the film was released, the news came out, there was outrage and then it was removed.

04:18So, Chief Minister Stalin confirming there essentially that yes, the scene has been cut out now.

04:23But in the original version, before the controversy itself, the scene that had a reference to

04:28the Mullaperiyar dam raised in fact a lot of anger in Tamil Nadu.

04:33Let's bring in Anagha Keshav for more details.

04:35Anagha, what really did this scene show on the Mullaperiyar dam?

04:39Was it skewered in favour of Kerala that's led to anger in Tamil Nadu?

04:47In fact, Rakshitha, there were some scenes in the older version of Empurad repeatedly

04:52where the villain spoke about planting explosives in the Mullaperiyar dam, subsequently plotting

04:58to lead to its collapse.

04:59Those were the kind of sensitive scenes that was allegedly portrayed in the unedited clip

05:05which led to widespread criticism in the state, so much so that this particular issue was

05:10also raised in Tamil Nadu's assembly with Chief Minister Stalin himself talking about it.

05:15He said that the film's edits were not done before the film's release.

05:19This was not done by the censor board.

05:21In fact, much later, after the film's release and after the opposition that came with it,

05:27that was when the edits were done.

05:28That was what in fact Chief Minister Stalin also said.

05:32In fact, Minister for Water Resources Durai Murugan also echoed similar concerns.

05:36In fact, Durai Murugan said that those particular scenes made him feel angry and fear at the same time.

05:43He said that these kind of scenes were completely unnecessary and if indeed these kind of scenes

05:48were portrayed, then they had to be removed from the clip is what Durai Murugan also said.

05:54Okay, so you've got clearly a statement coming in from the Tamil Nadu government

05:58over this entire controversy.

06:00Anagha, also at this point, the film as it is after the re-censorship,

06:04can you confirm for us this controversial Mullaperiyar scene has also been removed?

06:13Well, Akshitha, in fact we are hearing that scenes pertaining to Mullaperiyar dam have been edited.

06:19In fact, the sensitive bits where the parts where explosives were supposed to be planted,

06:24all these sensitive details have been removed from the film is what in fact

06:28Chief Minister Stalin has also confirmed in the assembly.

06:31And he says that after the film's edits, that was when we will allow the screening in Tamil Nadu.

06:36Now since those edits have been done, we have no issues with the screening of Empuran

06:40is what Chief Minister Stalin, Speaker Appavu and Durai Murugan also said on the floor of the assembly.

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