DVAC raids 60 premises linked to Velumani

In Chennai, residences of Chennai Corporation Chief Engineer L Nandakumar and former Chief Engineer Pugazhenthi, were also searched. Velumani, who is an MLA now, was questioned at the MLA quarters by a team of DVAC officials, sources said. Of the 60 places, 42 premises were in Coimbatore, 16 in Chennai, one each in Kancheepuram - Dindigul, the DVAC press release said. The premises of suspected business establishments involved were also searched. During the search proceedings, Rs 13 lakh cash, documents related to land registrations, transaction documents of business firms, fixed deposit details to the tune of Rs 2 crore, official records of Corporation, electronic hard discs and other incriminating documents were seized.

This is the second case that the DVAC has taken up against former AIADMK ministers. The DVAC had carried out raids at premises belonging to former AIADMK minister MR Vijayabhaskar two weeks ago after the agency registered a case against him, his wife and brother.

“There is prima facie material that Velumani and other accused and officials of Municipal Corporations of Greater Chennai city and Coimbatore city, with dishonest intentions, had entered into criminal conspiracy between 2014 and 2018, in injudiciously awarding tenders in bus route road, storm water drain and contracts pertaining to outsourcing of the staff for Health Department and certain other contract works in Greater Chennai and Coimbatore Municipal Corporations by violating the procedure established by law and thereby committed cheating and criminal misappropriation of public money amounting to several crores of rupees of the government of Tamil Nadu and thereby committed offences punishable under IPC Sections including criminal conspiracy, cheating along with provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act, “ the DVAC FIR said. The remaining accused are his brother Anbarasan, K Chandraprakash, R Chandrasekar, R Murugesan, Jesu Robert Raja, KU Raja and the companies they are linked to.

Sleuths land at wrong address: DVAC officials spent around four hours looking for a non-existing address of KCP in Somangalam in Kancheepuram trying to locate an address linked to Velumani. When they reached the location around 6 am they found that a different company was functioning in the same address. The team later met the owner of the firm, inspected records, conducted enquiries with the local police and revenue officials before leaving around 12 noon.