9 men held for ‘attacking’ ED officials at Kerala leader of opposition home, gets bail

300 people assembled with weapons

The prosecution claimed that the complainant, who is the assistant director of the ED along with other officials, was conducting a search at the residence of the Leader of the Opposition, Kerala, on May 27, 2026, at about 7.15 am when the accused, along with around 300 identifiable persons, allegedly formed an unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapons and gathered outside the residence.

It was alleged that after the search concluded at about 2.40 pm, the ED officials boarded their official vehicles. As the vehicles entered the road, the accused allegedly surrounded them, shouted obscene words, exhorted others to kill the officials, assaulted one official with a stick, and pelted stones at the ED vehicle, causing injuries to its driver.

Justice Kauser Edappagath noted that the ED officials were allegedly attacked by around 300 people armed with deadly weapons after the search.

The prosecution further alleged that when police and CRPF personnel attempted to intervene, they too were attacked with sticks, stones and bricks, and the accused damaged the official vehicles, causing an estimated loss of Rs 3 lakh. The accused were booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984

‘Accusations are serious’ 

The high court found that the case diary reveals that the accusation against the applicants is very serious and shows a premeditated criminal act on their part. 

Noting that the accused persons have criminal antecedents involving serious offences and serious injuries were sustained by the victims, the high court held that the continued detention of the applicants is not required for any purpose. 

The court granted bail on the condition that the accused persons should fully co-operate with the investigation and should deposit Rs 10,000 each before the jurisdictional magistrate court. 

It was further added that the accused persons should not leave the state without the permission of the trial court. 

Arguments 

The lawyers of the accused persons argued that they are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials placed on record are sufficient to connect the accused with the alleged crime and they are entitled to bail. 

On the contrary, Additional Solicitor General of India P Sreekumar submitted that the allegations disclosed a coordinated and organised assault on officers of a Central investigating agency who were lawfully conducting search proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. He further argued that the gravity of the allegations, the ongoing investigation and the larger conspiracy warranted denial of bail.