Huge amount of cash found with DMK functionary linked to Durai Murugan
VELLORE: Continuing the swoop down on the premises of DMK treasurer and former Tamil Nadu PWD Minister Durai Murugan and his close aides, the sleuths of Income Tax (IT) department on Monday unearthed a huge number of cash bundles allegedly meant for distribution to voters, sources said.
The cash, packed in small bundles marked with numbers of wards and divisions, was kept concealed at a cement godown located in the premises of the residence of DMK's Katpadi town panchayat secretary Seenivasan, at Karigiri Salai, in Pallikuppam in Vellore district.
According to a statement from the I-T department, “The cash shifted from Kingston College (Durai Murugan Educational Trust), Vellore, to a cement godown in the night between 29th and 30th March due to botched up operation by the State Police and revenue authorities was found by I-T (inv) team.”
It added, “All the cash is stuffed in cartons and gunny bags neatly packed for distribution division and ward-wise.”
Ten teams of the tax men were stated to have engaged in the operation which began around 9 am in the morning.
The sources noted that the house of Seenivasan's sister Vimala, in the same locality, was also subjected to a thorough search.
Photos and videos of the cash bundles are going viral on social media networks.
Similar raids are also being conducted at the residence of Durai Murugan, whose son DM Kathir Anand is contesting the polls in Vellore Lok Sabha constituency, at Gandhi Nagar in Katpadi and their educational institutions at Christianpet in Chittoor Road, sources said.
The investigation teams of the tax watchdog already held raids in Durai Murugan's residence and educational institutions on Friday night and Saturday, seizing an unaccounted cash amount of Rs. 10 lakh.
With opposition parties criticising the targeted raids by the IT men hampering electioneering of Kathir Anand, the DMK treasurer dismissed the exercise as purely political with a motive to snatch his son's victory prospects.
At an election meeting held on Sunday night at Vellore, in which DMK president MK Stalin was present, he said he could not be cowed down by such tactics and would face it appropriately.
On Monday morning, Stalin questioned the rationale behind the searches and challenged the IT department whether it was bold enough to raid the residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami if he preferred a complaint of stacking black money. Stalin had asked whether the tax men would search the residence of the Prime Minister if he lodged a complaint.