ED Raids DMK Minister Duraimurugan’s Properties in Vellore
CHENNAI: Sleuths from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the house of DMK general secretary and State Minister for Water Resources, Duraimurugan, and his son and MP from Vellore, Kathir Anand, at Katpadi in Vellore district on Friday, along with three other properties connected with the father-son duo.
Duraimurugan, who was in Chennai when the ED officials, aided by a posse of armed personnel from the CRPF, arrived at the properties in Vellore district to conduct the raids, had a meeting with Chief Minister M K Stalin at the Secretariat later on after meeting his lawyers at his residence in Kotturpuram.
Among the premises that were raided were cement warehouses of DMK leader Pooncholai Srinivasan in Pallikuppam and Kingston College, owned by Kathir Anand. Since the sleuths arrived early in the day, some of the properties were locked, they had to wait for the arrival of the keys from the persons concerned.
Earlier, in 2019, during the Lok Sabha elections, Income Tax raids were conducted at properties of Duraimurugan, Kathir Anand aand Pooncholai Srinivasan and hard cash was seized.
While Rs 11.51 crore of unaccounted cash was found in the Minister’s house, Rs 10 lakh was seized from Kathir Anand during the I-T raid that led to the immediate cancellation of the Lok Sabha elections from Vellore, which subsequently went to polls and DMK nominee Kathir Anand won.
The latest raid is suspected to be a continuum of that action by the Union Government’s enforcement agencies, which is seen by DMK sources as an effort to intimidate the party.
Other sources said that the raid was in connection with the alleged ‘cash for vote’ scam, RBI violations in a money laundering case and misappropriation by officials during the demonetization.
After attending office at the Secretariat and meeting the Chief Minister, Duraimurugan drove down to Katpadi, where the raids were going on late in the evening. No official announcement was, however, made on the raids or on any seizures.
Several ‘incriminating’ documents were said to be taken from Pooncholai Srinivasan, who came under the radar of the Union Government enforcement agencies in 2019 itself. He is said to be taking care of the financial affairs of the family.
Duraimurugan is the senior most Minister in the DMK government and the Number Two in the party hierarchy after M K Stalin, who is the president.