Poll panel bribery case: ED grills Dhinakaran again

NEW DELHI: Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary TTV Dhinakaran appeared before the ED here for the second time on Friday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the alleged bribing of Election Commission officials to get the AIADMK’s ‘Two Leaves’ symbol for VK Sasikala faction, officials said.

The agency will continue recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The first time, Dhinakaran was grilled by the Enforcement Directorate for about eight hours at its office here on April 12. The agency issued fresh summons to him last week.

The agency’s notice and investigation against the 58-year-old AMMK leader came after it recently arrested jailed ‘conman’ and another accused in this case, Sukesh Chandrashekhar.

While exiting the ED office late at night on April 12, Dhinakaran told reporters that he cooperated with the agency and replied to their questions in the Sukesh Chandrashekhar case.

Chandrashekhar was also grilled by the agency in the case over the last week.

Officials had said that they recorded the statement of Chandrashekhar in this case early this month and now want to question Dhinakaran and confront him with Chandrashekhar to take the probe forward.

The ED case under the criminal provisions of the PMLA is based on the primary FIR filed against the accused by the Delhi Police Crime Branch in 2017.