Income Tax Department officials seized cash bundles stacked in many gunny bags and assortment of carton boxes from the house of Poonjolai Srinivasan, a DMK functionary in Vellore district on Monday.
Mr. Srinivasan is believed to be a close associate of DMK treasurer and Deputy Leader of Opposition in State Assembly, Duraimurugan, whose son Kathir Anand is contesting from the Vellore Parliamentary constituency in the general elections.
The I-T Department sources said the cash to the tune of over ₹15 crore was recovered from Mr Srinivasan’s house in Nadumottur village in Katpadi.
Searches were conducted in six places since early on Monday including at a cement godown and two houses linked to Mr Duraimurugan.
The searches come against the backdrop of last week’s visit of an Election Commission’s static surveillance team and I-T officials to Mr. Duraimurugan’s house. The static surveillance team had first gone to his house on Friday night but had to return without conducting any search as it did not have a warrant.
The I-T Department officials suspect that the some of the cash seized on Monday could have been moved from certain premises linked to Mr. Duraimurugan on Friday night. Income Tax officials had on Saturday searched his house and an engineering college in Christianpet near Katpadi managed by Mr Kathir Anand and recovered ₹10.50 lakh “excess” cash and some documents.
Searches were on at another DMK functionary Asther Ali’s house in Kalpudhur and a school managed by Mr. Kathir Anand.
The I-T officials claimed that the currency bundles were neatly packed in envelopes with markings that indicated that they were meant to be distributed to voters in different wards and divisions.
