ED Raids Premises Of 'Lottery King' Santiago Martin, VCK Leader Aadhav Arjuna

Around five properties associated with Aadhav Arjuna and Martin are being scrutinised including residence in Poes Garden and JJ Salai.

VCK Deputy General Secretary Aadhav Arjuna and his father-in-law, Santiago Martin, known as the 'lottery king'.

Source : Special arrangement

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials launched raids on Thursday at multiple properties linked to VCK Deputy General Secretary Aadhav Arjuna and his father-in-law, Santiago Martin, a businessman known as the 'lottery king.' The searches are being conducted across several locations in Chennai and Coimbatore.

Around five properties associated with Aadhav Arjuna and Martin are being scrutinised, including Arjuna’s residence in Poes Garden, JJ Salai, where six ED officers, supported by CRPF personnel, are carrying out the search operations, as reported by DT Next.

The raids come as Madras HC permitted the ED to procced against Martin. 

Meanwhile, Martin has been under investigation by multiple central agencies including the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department facing several legal challenges.

Future Gaming Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. is the master distributor of Sikkim lotteries. All the more, the ED has been investigating Martin since 2019, as per PTI.  He also made headline after it was revealed that his company was the largest purchaser of electoral bonds as per EC data. His firm had bough bonds worth over Rs 1,300 crore. 

Aadhav Arjuna, once known as a national-level basketball player, has recently gained significant visibility after joining the VCK. His rapid ascent to the position of deputy general secretary within the party has drawn attention.

Earlier Aadhav Arjuna made news for his controversial statement which put DMK and VCK alliance in jeopardy. In an interview, Arjuna claimed that DMK might find it difficult to secure victory in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu without the support of VCK. He also questioned why VCK was not part of the power sharing and the reason for Thirumavalavan not being considered for the post of Deputy CM. 

He also stirred another row by publicly endorsing the newly formed political party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, launched by actor Vijay.