Income Tax searches against TN Minister EV Velu
While there is no official word from the Central agency on the raids, police sources said the searches were being held in different parts of the State, including Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruvannamalai and Karur.
DMK leader RS Bharathi visit Minister of Highways and PWD, E.V. Velu at his residence in Alwarpet (Photo: Justin George)
CHENNAI: The Income Tax officials on Friday launched searches at over 30 locations in Tamil Nadu, including 11 premises in Chennai, linked to State minister EV Velu.
He is the third Cabinet member in the State to face the heat of the Central agencies.
While there is no official word from the Central agency on the raids, police sources said the searches were being held in different parts of the State, including Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruvannamalai and Karur.
Velu, a senior DMK leader, holds the PWD and Highways portfolio in the M K Stalin-led DMK Cabinet.
Offices of at least two-star hotels in T Nagar, linked to a particular real estate developer, believed to be close to the minister, were also searched by the IT sleuths, sources said. The office of another well-known realtor was also surveyed by the tax investigators.
Apart from premises linked to the minister, the state highway guest house located on Sardar Patel Road, was also searched by the raiding team.
Sources said that tax officials flew in by air on Thursday night from Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi to carry out the raids as the department had covered a large number of premises, including accountants and chartered accountants of real estate companies, in which Velu believed to have parked his fund, on Friday morning.
Income Tax officials search State's Minister EV Velu's residence and college in Tiruvannamalai. More details awaited.#IncomeTax #EVVelu #Tiruvannamalai #ITRaids #raids pic.twitter.com/rE92L3C9ED
— DT Next (@dt_next) November 3, 2023
While TN Ministers V Senthilbalaji and K Ponmudy are under the radar of the ED, Income Tax authorities conducted searches at the premises of party MP S Jagathrakshakan last month. Balaji is in prison in connection with a money laundering case.
DMK leader and State Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin alleged agencies like the IT and Enforcement Directorate (ED) had become the BJP's political "wings" and asserted the matter would be faced legally.
Reacting to the searches, Udhayanidhi said such action by the central agencies "keeps happening no."
"This (searches) keeps happening no. There are many wings in DMK and the Congress, like the students' wing, youth wing and medical wing. Similarly, the IT and ED are the BJP's wings. They are doing their job. We will face this legally," he told reporters here.