TIRUVANNAMALAI/MADURAI: The DVAC on Saturday raided the premises of former AIADMK minister and party’s Arani MLA Sevoor S Ramachandran in Tiruvannamalai district and former AIADMK MLA P Neethipathi’s premises in Usilampatti in Madurai district. The raids were carried out in connection with two separate cases registered against the two persons recently for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
Official sources said Ramachandran, his wife R Manimegalai and two sons R Santhosh Kumar and R Vijayakumar have been booked in the case. The disproportionate assets are estimated at `8.03 crore accumulated from March 23, 2016, to March 31, 2021, when Ramachandran was HR&CE minister in the previous AIADMK government.
Sleuths searched the residences of Ramachandran and his son Santhosh Kumar in Arani.
The case against Neethipathi was registered on Friday for amassing assets worth Rs 1.83 crore disproportionate to his known sources of income when he was an AIADMK MLA representing Usilampatti between 2016 and 2021. The case has been registered against Neethipathi, his wife N Anandhi and son N Elanchezhien, a contractor in Usilampatti municipality.
The Madras High Court recently heard a petition filed by Kannan, seeking to register a case against the former MLA and his family for acquiring wealth through ill-gotten money since the DVAC had not registered a case despite his complaint in 2023.
DVAC had informed the court that it would be registering a case.
Calling the raid an act of political vendetta, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami criticised the ruling DMK and Chief Minister MK Stalin, saying the latter is scared of the ongoing Enforcement Directorate raid. The DVAC raid is based on “fabricated cases” which will not affect the AIADMK, Palaniswami said in a statement.
Fabricated cases: EPS
The raids were carried out in connection with two separate cases registered against the two persons recently. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami criticised the DMK calling the raids an act of political vendetta. He said the raids are based on “fabricated cases” which will not affect the AIADMK.