L2 Empuraan Controversy: IT Sends Notice To Prithviraj, ED Raids Producer Gokulam Gopalan

Thiruvananthapuram: The producers of the controversial movie L2: Empuraan -- Prithviraj Sukumaran and Gokulam Gopalan – have come under the lens of the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate.

Actor director Prithviraj reportedly received a notice from the IT that sought clarifications regarding his earnings from three films released in 2022 — Jana Gana Mana, Gold, and Kaduva.

The notice, served on March 29, comes just days after the release of Empuraan starring Malayalam superstar Mohanlal.

The actor has been given until April 29 to respond.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on the offices and residence of Gokulam Gopalan, one of the producers of Empuraan.

According to reports, the ED seized Rs 1.5 crore in cash and several incriminating documents from the offices of Gokulam Group and the residence of its Chairman, Gokulam Gopalan.

The search, which concluded on Saturday, was part of an ongoing probe into alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), reports indicated.

The searches were conducted at the Gokulam Chit Funds headquarters in Kodambakkam and at Gopalan’s residence in Neelankarai, Chennai. Officials from the ED’s Kochi zone are overseeing the operation, though further details are yet to be disclosed.

L2: Empuraan had invited the wrath of the Sangh Parivar over the  depiction of the 2002 Gujarat riots. Right-wing groups, including some from actor Mohanlal’s fanbase, had accused the filmmakers of targeting the BJP and the RSS.

 Later, the production team tried to make amends and voluntarily opted to erase the scenes and rename the antagonist — originally called Balraj Patel, a name many saw as an allusion to Babu Bajrangi, a convict in the Gujarat riots — to Baldev.

 A card stating “2002 - India,” pegging the exact year in which the violence took place, was also replaced to say “A few years ago.” In total, the filmmakers made 24 voluntary cuts, removing approximately 2 minutes and 8 seconds of footage.