Rattled by IT raids, DMK leader Udayanidhi Stalin asks the department to search his house

Even before the IT officials stepping out of the premises of Stalin’s daughter and her husband’s premises, DMK Karur candidate Senthil Balaji, Udhayanidhi Stalin has challenged the IT department to search his residence. He even gave the address of his cenotaph road residence.

Acting on specific information Income Tax officials conducted raids on the premises that belonged to MK Stalin’s daughter Senthamarai, her husband V Sabareesan who is considered to be a key person in the party at Neelankarai on East Coast Road. IT officials also raided Sabreesan’s business partner Bala of GSquare Relaters PVT Ltd and Karthik Mohan, son of DMK’s Anna Nagar MLA M K Mohan, Thiruvannamalai DMK MP Annadurai and Chennai headquartered SNJ group engaged in the brewery, distillery, real estate, sugar factory, hotels business.

Sources said that IT Chennai Directorate conducted raids on three different groups and a few individuals and seized important documents. These groups and individuals are found involved in business ranging from running distilleries and breweries , real estate, local financing, solar power, EPC to handling cash of politically exposed persons for the ongoing elections. They are alleged to have been actively assisting to political parties in cash distribution. Searches were made by 150 groups with the help of Para military personnel in Chennai, Coimbatore, Karur and Thanjavur totaling 28 places. IT officials seized incriminating materials on tax evasion. In Sivakasi, minister Rajendra Balaji’s car driver house was subjected to raid.

Reacting to the raids, Stalin said, “DMK cannot be cowed down by IT searches. I am the son of Kalaignar. I will not be scared by such raids. I have faced MISA and emergency. They can scare the AIADMK with such raids but not the DMK. We know PM Modi is instigating the raids. The voters will reply to your act on April 6. DMK also filed complaint with EC against IT searches”. DMT MP RS Bharathi told the media in a sarcastic tone, “Thank you Modi for conducting raids. IT officials went back disappointed. They found 1.36 lakh in Senthamarai’s house kept for household expenses”.

His son and political novice Udhayaniddhi Stalin, who had accused PM of killing his cabinet colleagues by subjecting them to pressure, has dared the IT department to search his residence. Campaigning in Madathukulam in Tirupur district, he said, “here is my address. No 25/9 Cenotaph Road, Chitranjan Salai, Chennai. If you (IT dept) have the courage, visit my house. Whatever is there, I will show you. Not just me, even the DMK’s area secretary will not fear these IT raids”.

Naam Tamizhar Katchi founder Seeman also challenged the IT department to conduct raids at his house. His property list that was doing rounds in social media looks like a grocery list running into several pages mentioning various properties in his name and his family members worth several crores. Seeman is contesting in the Tiruvotriyur assembly constituency.

Savukku Shankar has made a series of tweets. He said “following the searches in the premises belonging to Sabareesan, @mkstalin’s son in law , have collected the details of his travels and are quizzing him what was the purpose of his visits to Nagpur, Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru… They are also quizzing his connection with 1) Rex Energy projects P ltd 2) Travel Wizard P Ltd., 3) Extra Green Ventures P Ltd. 4)Stratcone Green Solutions P Ltd., 5) Hasiz investments P Ltd., 6) Letz Connect Allied Services P ltd., 7) Stratcone General Nice Mineral Trading P Ltd., 8) Trishe Green solutions P Ltd. 9) Promace Energy projects P Ltd., 10) Stratcone Supply Chain solutions P ltd., 11) Enabling Genius Learning Solutions P Ltd. 12) Letzconnect AI Labs P Ltd. In all the above firms, Sabreesan’s cousin Praveen Ganesh is the Director. In the following companies Sabreesan himself is the director 1) Voicetec Business System India P Ltd., 2) Look Up Merchandise LLP. 3) Touch Feel Technologies LLP 4) Sunshine Holdings India P Ltd., 5) Lotus Bhevin Developers LLP and 6) Max Space Realty LLP”.

On Twitter, DMK candidates have taken a jibe at the Prime Minister. Thondamuthu DMK candidate Karthikeya Sivasenapathy tweeted, ‘Dear Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi…pl. campaign for Mr S P Velumani, Local Administration minister. I am the DMK candidate against him. Thank you sir,@Mahaamoitra,@narendramodi, @SPV Velumanicbe,@DMKEnvironWing@arivalay”.

He said in his tweet that PM Modi’s campaign will be useful for him and tagged the PM’s official handle. This went viral on social media. Taking a cue from him, several DMK ( or pre-arranged) took the tweeter with the same message but in their names made appeals. They say “Anti-Modi wave is very strong in Tamil Nadu. The more he campaigns, the DMK has a better chance to sweep the polls by a huge margin,” said one of the candidate. Thiruvannamalai candidate EV Velu who is pitted against BJP candidate S Thanigaivel, K Selva Perunthagai of Congress also made similar appeals. Velu’s premises were raided by IT last month. AIADMK leader Ravi said” They do not the PM Modi powers. They have touched the ears of a slipping lion knowingly. Will know once it attacks them with full vigour. Veterans like Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Farooq Abdullah have seen the Modi-Amit Sha duo’s prowess. Now Didi Mamata’s has been realizing it in West Bengal. For them, DMK is nothing and dossiers containing their past misdeeds are on their table waiting for green signal”.

Meanwhile, BJP Coimbatore South Constituency BJP candidate Vanathi Srinivasan has lodged a criminal defamation complaint against you tube channel Gita TV and the woman allegedly running the same. The channel had made defamatory and controversial remarks on Vanathi, the BJP and the ministers of the AIADMK government. A woman claiming to be the friend of late Jayalalithaa has made these comments. Vanathi said “ the claims made in the video are baseless, untrue and the derogatory comments made about me and my husband are condemnable. The deliberate attempts to malign my image prior to elections will not sustain in a court of law and this will be proven. Sataymeva Jayete”.