Arappor lodges complaint against ex-min Veeramani

The outfit, which had lodged similar complaint against former minister SP Velumani, released Veeramani’s property documents and election affidavits to substantiate its allegation that he has accumulated Rs 76.65 crore over the past decade.

“In his affidavits for 2011, 2016 and 2021 elections, Veeramani declared details of his assets, which grew manifold. Our fact-finding team has estimated that his 10-year overall income to be around Rs 10 crores at the most,” said the organisation’s convener Jayaram Venkatesan. “We have urged the DVAC to also investigate the properties in the name of other partners and directors of firms linked to Veeramani,” he added.

According to the election affidavits, Veeramani had invested in nine new companies and obtained shares in the past 10 years. He also bought about 15 properties, including agricultural lands at Natrampali, non-agricultural and plots at Yelagiri hills, agricultural lands near Tirupattur, and a 3,600 sq ft house in Chennai. These properties were undervalued substantially, leading to loss of stamp duty, alleged Venkatesan, pointing out that Veeramani was the minister for registration. When contacted, an AIADMK spokesperson said the party leadership had already said that the DMK was foisting cases against opposition leaders as political vendetta. Veeramani is a wealthy person with ancestral properties even before becoming a minister, the person claimed. It may be noted that in 2019, the Income Tax department had raided the associates of Veeramani, and his personal assistant Srinivasan was also under IT scanner.