Income Tax Department officials on Monday conducted simultaneous searches at several premises belonging to Manoharan, an AIADMK functionary from Mannargudi. Apart from his house, four of his properties in Tiruvarur district and one in Thanjavur district were also targeted. Documents pertaining to contracts for projects he was executing for the Highways Department and the Railways were scrutinised by the I-T sleuths. Mr. Manoharan was away at the time of the searches, sources said.
At each targeted location, a team of four to five I-T officials carried out the searches with armed police cover. The teams, reportedly drawn from Chennai and Tiruchi, seized some of the documents found on the premises, sources said.
Mr. Manoharan is currently the secretary of the Serangulam village unit of the AIADMK, and is said to be close to a Minister.
Among the premises searched were a lodge and a fuel station in Mannargudi, the AIADMK functionary’s residence in his native village of Serangulam and a marriage hall at Tirukarugavur in Thanjavur district.
