ED Searches Tamil Nadu Minister K Ponmudy's Residence In Money Laundering Case
The Enforcement Directorate carried out a search operation in Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi's residence in Villupuram district.
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday raided the premises of DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy and his MP son Gautham Sigamani in a money laundering case. The raids were carried out at the premises of the father-son duo in state capital Chennai and in Villupuram, they said while the ruling DMK dubbed the action 'political vendetta,' as reported by PTI. The 72-year old minister is an MLA from the Tirukkoyilur Assembly seat in Villupuram district while his 49-year old son Sigamani is a Member of Parliament representing the Kallakurichi seat.
The money laundering case pertains to alleged irregularities when Ponmudy was the state mining minister (between 2007 and 2011) and there were allegations of violation of quarry licence conditions leading to loss of about Rs 28 crore to the exchequer, PTI reported. The minister is accused of obtaining mining/ quarry licences for his son and other family members and the licencees are alleged to have quarried red sand beyond the permissible limit.
Earlier in June, the state police had a filed a complaint to probe these charges of alleged corruption against the minister and those linked to him. The Madras High Court in June refused to stay the trial in this case after Sigamani approached it with a petition for relief.
The High Court stated that there were grounds to presume that the petitioner has committed the offence and hence the trial cannot be stopped, PTI reported.
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The raids came ahead of the Congress opposition meeting in Bengaluru in which DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin are set to take part. TN's ruling party said under Stalin's leadership it has been playing a pivotal role in taking on the BJP and the ED action is aimed at 'intimidating' it.
"This is political vendetta and aimed at testing the DMK's resolve," party spokesperson A Saravanan told PTI. There has been no action from Central authorities against the AIADMK leaders on graft cases such as the one involving the Gutka scandal, he alleged.
ED Raids Against TN Minister To Divert Attention: CM Stalin
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday said the ED raids being conducted at premises linked to the state's Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi, was a move to divert attention from the two-day opposition meeting being held in Bengaluru. He also claimed that the raids were a result of the Centre's "annoyance" at the two-day meeting of 24 like-minded opposition parties, as well as the first meeting which was held in Patna in June, as reported by IANS.
The Chief Minister, in a press briefing before leaving for Bengaluru, also charged that state Governor R.N. Ravi has already started his "election campaign". He claimed the ED of joining Ravi's campaign, adding that this has made things easier for the DMK in electoral politics.
Stalin said the ruling DMK is not worried over the ED raids, adding that a false case was imposed by the previous AIADMK government against Ponmudi, IANS reported. The Chief Minister also said that Ponmudi was acquitted recently by a local court in two other cases.
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