Security personnel outside the residence of MK Stalin’s daughter Senthamarai Stalin during the raid.
Chennai:
The Income Tax department has said it found “incriminating evidence” of tax evasion in searches it conducted of key people related to the DMK leadership on Friday in Chennai, Karur and Coimbatore, four days before Tamil Nadu is to go to vote.
However, a statement issued by the tax department did not mention any cash seizures, but said the searches were intended to verify whether the three groups that were targeted allegedly aided in the political distribution of cash.
The groups and individuals assaulted include those who run distilleries, breweries, real estate and solar power operations, as well as the son-in-law of DMK chief MK Stalin.
DMK MP RS Bharathi, however, claimed that income tax officials had only found Rs 1.36 lakh from the home of Mr. Stalin’s son-in-law.
A team of 25 income tax officials landed at the Chennai home of Neelangarai of opposition party leader Sabareesan’s son-in-law and his only daughter, Senthamarai, on Friday morning, hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold campaign events in southern Tamil Nadu.
Sabareesan, considered a key strategist and adviser to Stalin, is believed to have considerable influence within the family. Two other associates, Karthick, son of Anna Nagar’s candidate DMK, Mohan, and G-Square Bala, were raided.
There were separate tax raids against former Minister Senthil Balaji and his brother, Tiruvannamalai MP Annadurai, and Thanjavur North DMK Union Secretary Murasoli. Income tax sources told NDTV that the searches were based on data on the movement of cash.
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