CHENNAI: Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar and a former commercial taxes minister B V Ramanna have been summoned by Central Bureau of Investigation again on Sunday along with three others in connection with the ‘gutka case’, according to a CBI spokesman.
The spokesman told Express late Saturday night that Vijaya Baskar, Ramana, Senthil velavan, V S Kurinji Selvan and V Karthikeyan were summoned on Sunday, except Saravanan, a close aide of Vijaya Baskar who was quizzed on Saturday, the spokesman said. He said all five along with Saravanan were interrogated on Saturday.
While Ramanna, Saravanan and others appeared in the morning, the minister’s visit to CBI office at Shastri Bhavan was kept under wraps. It is learnt that the minister appeared before CBI without much fanfare and attracting little attention from passers-by. The media was kept guessing till the evening until it was revealed that the minister did arrive before CBI officials through another entrance.
Interestingly, this is the first time Vijaya Baskar and Ramanna have been quizzed by CBI after the premier investigating agency conducted searches in 35 locations across Chennai, Tiruvallur, Tuticorin, Guntur (Andhra Pradesh), Mumbai and Bengaluru, which included premises of Vijaya Baskar, Tamil Nadu DGP TK Rajendran, a former Chennai Police commissioner S George and several other top officials of the Central excise, food safety and health departments.
It is learnt that Ramanna and Saravanan, who was grilled by CBI earlier, were quizzed for nearly nine hours and they left around 7pm after which Health Minister left the building through another entrance. When Express contacted a CBI spokesman, he refused to provide any details about the investigation. “Our team from Delhi is in Chennai and summons had been issued,” he said.
The scam came to light in July, 2017, when I-T sleuths searched offices and residences of Jayam Industries (now known as Annamalai Industries) which had been facing charges of tax evasion to the tune of 250 crore and seized diary allegedly containing incriminating evidences against top officials.