Income Tax department tells Vijaya Baskar to join probe

“The I-T department wanted them to be present in person at the Income Tax investigation office at Nungambakkam on Monday at 10.30 am. The special team that carried out raids at 21 locations in Chennai would question the minister and others involved in the case, sources said, and added that Vijaya Baskar must provide information regarding the source of money that was seized. They added that the minister’s associates had given statements claiming that they had received the money from him to distribute to the voters at RK Nagar to garner support for TTV Dinakaran.

The I-T sleuths seized around Rs 5 crore and some documents that confirmed cash distribution to voters at Vijaya Baskar’s house. The documents seized by the department carried the names of seven ministers who were responsible for distributing Rs 89,65,80,000 to the voters. 

“Vijaya Baskar seems to be the main coordinator. As per the documents, all money transactions were controlled by him and he personally selected the ministers for distributing cash to voters. He has to reveal to us the source of the money and the amount they have already distributed,” an I-T official said. I-T department has already sent all the seized documents to the Election Commission to prove the cash for vote scam by the Dinakaran group.