ED searches DMK minister Periyasamy’s residences

CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the houses, business premises and even the MLA hostel rooms of the state rural development minister I Periyasamy and his family members, including his son, IP Senthilkumar MLA, in Chennai and Dindigul, their hometown.DMK and its allies were quick in condemning the ED raids saying they were politically-motivated, and that the DMK would not be cowed down by either the ED or Modi.The ED officials, who did not reveal the background for the searches, engaged a duplicate key maker to open the locked rooms in the official residence of the minister on Greenways Road. Meanwhile, the secretary of the assembly secretariat, K Srinavasan, lodged a complaint with Triplicane police alleging that 'unknown persons' had trespassed into the MLA hostel.

City police acknowledged the receipt of the complaint by issuing a community service receipt (CSR).

Sources said authorities locked the minister's cabin in the Secretariat in anticipation that ED teams might land there too, but ED sleuths stopped with the residence and the MLA hostel. Simultaneous searches happened in three places in Dindigul: the minister's residence in Durairaj Nagar, Senthilkumar's residence at Vallalar Nagar, and the minister's daughter Indra's residence at Seelapadi.

After the information about the raids spread, DMK cadres gathered in front of the houses in large numbers. While the CRPF personnel guarded the premises, state police personnel were deployed in the localities concerned to maintain the law and order situation. In Chennai, the searches were wound up in the evening, but the ED is yet to issue an official statement on the searches.DMK organising secretary R S Bharathi condemned the ED action and said the DMK and its cadress cannot be scared by the assaults of the central agencies.

“We will not be cowed down by the ED or Modi,” he said.MDMK general secretary Vaiko also condemned the ED raids and said that the Union govt was misusing central agencies to target opposition leaders for a political motive and as a means to intimidate and stifle their voices.“The central govt is using the Income Tax and Enforcement Departments to intimidate its opponents and stifle the voice. That is why the raid is being carried out at the house of Periyasamy.

This is strongly condemnable,” he said.It may be noted that the Madras high court had recently reversed the order of the Dindigul trial court, which relieved the DMK leader and his family members in the Rs 2 crore disproportionate assets case. The case pertains to the accumulation of assets to the tune of Rs 2 crore between 2006 and 2010 when Periyasamy was the housing minister. While DVAC filed a chargesheet against Periyasamy, his wife Suseela, and sons Senthilkumar and Prabhu, the ED also registered a money-laundering case based on the DVAC FIR and interrogated Periyasamy in 2022.However, the Dindigul trial court acquitted all of them from the case. But the Madras high court set aside the trial court order in April and ordered a fresh trial.