CHENNAI: A few days after unaccounted cash was recovered from police stations in Tiruchy, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has transferred Tiruchy Police commissioner J Loganathan and suspended Golden Rock Assistant Commissioner Tamilmaran. IPS officer A Arun was appointed Loganathan’s successor on Wednesday.
Further, Central zone Inspector General of Police HM Jayaram, West zone IG Dhinakaran and Coimbatore Rural Superintendent of Police Arul Arasu have been transferred to the DGP Headquarters awaiting posting orders. The trio must not be assigned any posting without ECI permission, an order from the poll panel said.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo, during a press meet on Wednesday, refused to disclose reasons for the action. “The ECI has collected separate reports from the District Election Officer (DEO), observers and expenditure observers with regard to the cash seizure from police stations. The transfers were ordered based on these reports,” Sahoo said and denied rumours on transferring the case to the CBI.
When reporters insisted on some explanation over the cash seizure, the CEO said, “The ECI has to ensure free and fair elections and it maintains a method of secrecy on certain matters to fulfil this duty.”
So far, 105 constituencies have been identified as expenditure-sensitive based on reports of previous elections. “The number may change based on further cash seizures. So far, the ECI has seized unaccounted cash and other valuables to the tune of total Rs 207.25 crore. Salem topped the seizures with Rs 42.47 crore, followed by Chennai with Rs 36.73 crore,” Sahoo added.
As on Tuesday, the total value of unaccounted cash and other materials seized by the ECI and the Income Tax department together stands at Rs 350.66 crore. “As many as 4,337 complaints have been received through the Cvigil app. The AIADMK has lodged complaints against DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran over alleged derogatory remarks and we will look into it,” he said.