Sarathkumar’s wife Radikaa’s production house in Chennai, Vijaya Basker’s close relative Subbaiyah’s blue metal quarry in Pudukottai come under scanner; CRPF personnel prevent Basker’s supporters from entering the quarry; will wait till an offence is made out, claims Enforcement Directorate
CHENNAI/PUDUKOTTAI: After raiding the premises of State Health Minister C Vijaya Basker and AISMK founder Sarathkumar recently, the sleuths of the Income Tax Department continued their search on their kin’s properties on Tuesday.
Sarathkumar’s wife Radikaa’s production house, Radaan Mediaworks, in Chennai and Vijaya Basker’s close relative Subbaiyah’s blue metal quarry in Pudukottai came under their scanner.
The fresh raids were conducted a day after Sarathkumar was grilled by them for more than 8 hours reportedly to trace the money trail in RK Nagar constituency.
Questioned for allegedly receiving `7 crore in return for his support to the ruling AIADMK faction for the now postponed RK Nagar bypoll, Sarathkumar, it is learnt, was evasive all along. He is to be summoned again. “We have asked him to appear for inquiry next week,” official sources told Express.
Meanwhile, a team attached to the Tiruchy Division of the IT Department, in association with the officials of the Central Mines and Minerals Department conducted a raid at Rasi Blue Metals, a quarry owned by a close relative of Vijaya Basker, operating at Thiruvenkaivasal near Pudukkottai during the wee hours of Tuesday.
According to sources, 10 members from both the central departments took the company of the CRPF personnel to raid the quarry. They reached the Rasi Blue Metals owned by his kin Subbaiyah of Iluppur at around 6.30 am. They raided the quarry premises, measured the pits in the quarry to assess the volume of the blue metals mined and also videographed the whole process, sources said. This is the second raid at the quarry in the last four days.
On information, some of the minister’s supporters gathered at the entrance and tried to enter the quarry, but the CRPF personnel prevented them, following which they dispersed.
As regards Dr S Geethalakshmi, the vice-chancellor of the Dr MGR Medical University, she is likely to be questioned on Thursday, as the Madras High Court rejected her petition against the summons.
Meanwhile, Enforcement Directorate sources said they would enter the scene only when a scheduled offence such as forgery or cheating is made out.
Meanwhile, former Tamil Nadu minister and senior leader of AIADMK-Puratchi Thalaivi Amma, KP Munusamy, on Tuesday questioned the source of `89 crore allegedly distributed to voters in RK Nagar.
He accused TTV Dhinakaran, deputy general secretary of AIADMK-Amma, of creating a situation where seven ministers face the risk of standing in the dock. The rebel leader O Panneerselvam will soon become the general secretary of the united AIADMK, Munusamy said while talking to reporters here.