CHENNAI: An fir has been registered by Abhiramapuram police based on reports from Income-Tax department, Election Commission and on the complaint dated April 21 this year of the Returning Officer of RK Nagar Assembly constituency alleging large-scale bribery of voters during the countermanded by-poll, State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajesh Lakhoni submitted in his counter filed in the Madras High Court, on Thursday.
The counter was filed in response to a PIL from Vairakkannan, an advocate, seeking a CBI probe into the illegalities and malpractices that occurred during the by-poll. The constituency fell vacant following the death of former Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretry J Jayalalithaa on December 5 last year.
According to the counter, on receipt of information of tax evasion and distribution of money in the constituency, IT officials conducted searches at 21 places in Chennai and 11 outside Chennai, all belonging to Health minister C Vijaya Baskar and his associates.
Prominent among the associates, at whose places the searches were made, included film actor Sarath Kumar, former AIADMK MP Rajendran and Health director and Dr MGR Medical University Vice-Chancellor S Geetha Lakshmi.
The IT authorities had also said that several complaints were received indicating that the minister was the main person involved in bribing the voters in the constituency to the tune of ` 89 crore. The Election Commission would monitor the investigation and launch prosecution against the offenders without any interference from any quarter, the counter-affidvit said.