Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) sleuths on Wednesday launched simultaneous searches at 69 residential and commercial premises belonging to former Electricity Minister P. Thangamani, his family and acquaintances in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The AIADMK’s Namakkal strongman, his son T. Dharanidharan and wife T. Santhi are suspected to have amassed assets to the tune of ₹4.85 crore, disproportionate to their known sources of income, during the check period from May 23, 2016 to March 31, 2020.
The DVAC said that during the searches, ₹2.37 crore in cash, 1.13 kg of gold jewellery and 40 kg of silver [articles] were seized. Mr. Thangamani and his son had also invested a huge amount of money in crypto assets, the officers alleged. Mobile phones, bank locker keys, computer hard disks and documents related to the case were seized, the agency said.
Vigilance sleuths reached the former Minister’s residence at Pallipalayam in Namakkal on Wednesday on the basis of a case registered by the DVAC, Namakkal, against the accused on December 14. Over 80 DVAC personnel began their searches at 7 a.m at Paari Street, Pannai Nagar, Pannai Street, Ganapathi Nagar, Muniyappan Kovil Street, Bhavani and Chithode. Sources said that while some residents were relatives of the former Minister, others were his associates.
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According to the FIR, Mr. Dharanidharan allegedly operated a fictitious firm, Murugan Earth Movers, “only to cover the illegal income” of Mr. Thangamani. Mrs. Santhi, a housewife with no known sources of income, was accused of aiding her husband and son “to acquire ill-gotten money” and hiding it by filing income tax returns when required.
The searches were conducted at 33 locations in Namakkal, 14 places in Chennai, eight places in Erode, four premises in Salem, two each in Coimbatore, Karur and Bengaluru, and one each in Krishnagiri, Vellore, Tiruppur and Andhra Pradesh (Chittoor). These included Mr. Dharanidharan's residence in Nedunjalai Nagar and three other places in Salem.
Sources said the places searched in Coimbatore were linked to Mr. Thangamani’s son-in-law Dinesh Kumar.
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‘Politically motivated’
Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami alleged that the searches were politically motivated. He told journalists in Salem that the DMK Government conducted the searches to hide its various shortcomings. Claiming that there had been large-scale corruption in the last seven months of the DMK’s rule, he alleged that the DMK Government was once dissolved on charges of corruption. Currently, 13 Ministers were facing charges of corruption, but no action had been taken against them, he claimed.
Addressing the media outside Mr. Thangamani's residence in Namakkal, former Minister S.P. Velumani claimed the police were being used to register cases against those criticising Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
Former Ministers M.R. Vijayabhaskar, R.B. Udhayakumar, K.A. Sengottaiyan, Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan, C.Ve. Shanmugam, K.C. Veeramani and K.P. Anbalagan visited Mr. Thangamani's residence during the course of the day.
AIADMK cadre gathered outside the residence of Mr. Thangamani and his son, and raised slogans condemning the searches. They blocked a vehicle with DVAC officials in Namakkal. The police intervened and cleared the protesters.
Mr. Thangamani on Wednesday night claimed Electricity Minister Senthilbalaji was instrumental in the DVAC searches targeting him and his family members. He denied that cash or jewellery were seized from his house.