CHENNAI: The ruling DMK on Sunday demanded that election officials must search across all places linked to the Tirunelveli BJP MLA Nainar Nagendar.
The statement came after Rs 4.5 crores have been seized from three persons. One of the accused is said to be working as a manager of Blue Diamond Hotel in Purasawalkam which is owned by the BJP leader.
DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi, in a representation to Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo, also demanded that all places linked to the BJP candidate contesting across Tamil Nadu must be searched.
Bharathi said, "We suspect Nainar Nagenthran stored crores of rupees in secret places, to distribute to the voters. Nagenthran is indulging in large-scale corrupt practices and likewise, the BJP is planning to distribute money to the voters in all constituencies wherever their candidates are contesting."
This came after the Flying Squad Teams (FST) seized Rs 3.98 crores from three men who were travelling on an express train headed to Tirunelveli on Saturday night.
The Tambaram police have registered a case and arrested the trio.
Upon questioning, the trio allegedly told the police that they were carrying the cash to distribute to voters in Tirunelveli based on the instructions of BJP MLA Nainar Nagendran.
According to the police, the trio were identified as Sathish (33), Naveen (26) and Perumal (26). The police said that based on a tip-off, the FST followed the trio from Egmore and nabbed at them Tambaram Railway Station. A police officer said, "The three men had five bags of cash containing Rs 3,98,91,500.
In the inquiry, they have named three other people whose involvement in being investigated, the police said.
The recovered cash has been handed over to the Tahsildar after informing the Income Tax department. Further probe is on.
Meanwhile, the Chengalpattu DEO said that all the information related to the seizure has been sent to the Income Tax Department and it will conduct a detailed investigation into the matter.
