The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided 11 locations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to the Bharath Lajhna Multi State Co-operative Society (BLM). ED searches began on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, with the central agency targeting premises in cities including Kochi, Kozhikode and Chennai connected to R. Premkumar, BLM’s founding member and de facto chairman and managing director. The ED action is being carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It comes while a Crime Branch probe is ongoing in Kerala against Premkumar. According to ED sources, Premkumar allegedly used his influence to divert crores of rupees collected from public depositors into relatives’ accounts for personal use. The matter is tied to a complaint lodged at the Nadakkavu police station in Kozhikode alleging physical assault by Premkumar and others. The complaint was later withdrawn, but the Crime Branch, finding evidence of alleged misappropriation of funds, registered an FIR invoking Sections 316(5) and 318(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Premkumar was arrested at his residence in Nungambakkam, Chennai, on October 29 and produced before a Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kozhikode. He was granted bail shortly afterwards, with the court citing procedural lapses in his arrest, and police have sought permission to re-arrest him. After his release on bail, a fresh cheating case was registered alleging Premkumar defrauded a woman of ₹1.6 crore in Kothamangalam. The Crime Branch has reportedly examined 320 bank accounts linked to the alleged scam. BLM, started in Chennai in 2006 as a housing co-operative society, is reported to have around 150 branches and over 15 lakh members across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. BLM’s top managers deny deposit fraud, saying the society has assets worth more than its liabilities towards depositors. The ED investigation is ongoing following the raids under the PMLA, while Premkumar’s cases include bail granted by the court and a request by police to re-arrest him.