Days after the Income Tax department searched the house of senior DMK leader Duraimurugan, his son DM Kathir Anand and a few of his close associates, the Katpadi police has registered an FIR against DM Kathir Anand and two of his men. DM Kathir Anand is DMK’s candidate for Vellore parliamentary constituency for the upcoming general elections.
The FIR, which was registered on Monday, included the names of Poonjolai Srinivasan, a local DMK functionary and Damodaran apart from Kathir Anand. In the FIR, it has been stated that according to the election affidavit filed by DM Kathir Anand, the cash possessed by himself and his wife stood at Rs 7.43 lakh. However, on April 1, when the officers from the Income Tax department conducted search in Damodaran’s properties, they seized Rs 11.48 crore. “Poonjolai Srinivasan then contacted the Income Tax authorities and accepted that the amount seized from Damodaran’s properties belonged to him and that it was kept there to distribute to voters,” read the FIR. It further states that officials from the Income Tax department were not allowed to enter Duraimurugan’s house and at that time this money could have been moved from the location.
The Katpadi police, hence, registered an FIR against Kathir Anand, Poonjolai Srinivasan and Damodaran under sections 125A (Penalty for filing false affidavit) of the Representation of the People Act 1951 and 171E (Punishment for bribery) and 171B (Bribery related to exercise of electoral right) of the IPC.
The Income Tax department searched Duraimurugan’s house in the wee hours of March 30 and then followed it up on April 1 with a search in the cement godown. The search, carried out on information received by the District Electoral Officer of Vellore, ended in the officers seizing almost Rs 11 crore from the godown. The amount was stacked in gunny sacks, big shopping bags and cartons.
While Kathir Anand is contesting on a DMK ticket, Puthiya Needhi Katchi founder AC Shanmugam is the candidate of AIADMK+ alliance. Shanmugam is a businessman and the chancellor of Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute. TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK has fielded Pandurangan in Vellore while Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam has picked R Suresh to contest from the constituency.
Source: The News Minute