Arappor Iyakkam, a city-based organisation, has called for a deeper probe into the alleged corruption charges against former minister S.P. Velumani and his associates.
This follows the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption launching searches at the former AIADMK Minister’s premises in various places on Tuesday.
The organisation had filed a public interest litigation petition at the Madras High Court seeking registration of an FIR (first information report) against the Minister, senior officials of Chennai and Coimbatore Corporations and contractors for corruption in various contracts between 2014 and 2017. It had flagged many such issues during the past regime.
The organisation’s convener, Jayaram Venkatesan, said: “We had highlighted irregularities and misuse of powers in the tender process and awarding contracts to Chennai and Coimbatore corporations to the tune of ₹500 crore.”
The organisation had also filed an additional affidavit of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report, which was tabled in Tamil Nadu Assembly in June this year. It had concurred with the findings of the organisation in different tenders of Chennai Corporation.
Arappor Iyakkam had earlier lodged a complaint with DVAC in 2018 about awarding of tenders to relatives of close aides of the former minister in violation of the Tender Transparency Act.
Mr. Venkatesan said the organisation had submitted evidence related to a sample of nearly 47 tenders that were awarded to the former Minister’s brother S.P. Anbarasan’s Senthil and Co and R. Rajan, in Coimbatore Corporation. They uploaded bids from the same IP address within a gap of 20 minutes to one hour in most of these tenders. Moreover, it was found that Senthil and Co and R. Rajan were registered with the same mobile number in the contractors list 2017 that was released by the Coimbatore Corporation.
Similarly, KCP Engineers and Vardhan Infrastructure were awarded tenders related to various road and stormwater drain works, violating tender rules in both Chennai and Coimbatore Corporations. Some of the close aides of the former Minister are directors and shareholders in these companies, he alleged.
Arappor Iyakkam wants the investigation to be expanded to more tenders that they did not have access to and also for the government to conduct field and quality checks of the works carried out.
Published - August 10, 2021 03:00 pm IST
