No link between my Delhi visit and ED raids at my properties, says minister Duraimurugan
DMK General Secretary stated that the agenda of his national capital visit was only to discuss matters related to his department
Duraimurugan (File)
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan who flew to Delhi on Saturday night following Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at his and MP son Kathir Anand's properties in Vellore and Katpadi denied his visit was linked to the raids.
Speaking to reporters after returning from Delhi on an Air India passenger flight on Sunday night, the DMK General Secretary stated that the agenda of his national capital visit was only to discuss matters related to his department and had nothing to do with the three-day ED raids that concluded in the wee hours of Sunday.
Duraimurugan also remarked that they were used to raids and that there was nothing new about it. "I am not the person for all the stories you are writing as fiction," he told the media at the Chennai airport.
Political circles have been abuzz since Friday when the ED launched searches in at least five places including Duraimurugan and his son Vellore MP Kathir Anand's residence and premises belonging to their associates in Katpadi and Vellore. A two-day search at Kingston Engineering College in Vellore, owned by Kathir Anand, ended after over 44 hours early on Sunday morning, said a Thanthi TV report.
Unaccounted money, kept for salaries and Pongal bonuses and the fees paid by students were seized, along with documents related to the college and its bank transactions, and a hard disk, the report added.
Following the raids, Duraimurugan along with former Union Minister and Arakkonam MP Jagathrakshakan left Chennai for New Delhi on an Air India passenger flight at around 9:45 pm on Saturday.
The searches are part of a probe into a 2019 Income Tax case against Kathir Anand over cash-for-votes charges ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Over Rs 10 crore was seized from premises allegedly related to Anand’s associates in Vellore, which led to the cancellation of the election in Vellore constituency.