Chennai: The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) raid on the Chennai premises of Tamil Nadu Higher Education minister, K. Ponmudi and his son evoked angry reaction from Chief Minister MK Stalin, who reacted strongly against the agency's move hinting it as 'vendetta politics.'
"People are watching all these raids and they know the purpose behind it," Stalin said. Significantly, the ED raids coincided with Stalin’s participation in the Opposition parties’ meeting in Bengaluru. According to reports, the central agency is tightening its noose on 13 more DMK ministers.
Also read: ED raids premises of Tamil Nadu minister K Ponmudi, son in alleged money laundering case
Reacting on this, Stalin said his government won’t be cowed down by such pressure tactics which is a well-known ploy of the BJP government. According to reports, the raid was conducted in connection with money laundering charges levelled against the minister. This marks the second such instance in recent times where a DMK leader has come under the scrutiny of the ED.
Earlier, the Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthil Balaji was arrested by the ED following raids conducted at his properties. In a separate case earlier this month, Ponmudi was acquitted in a land grabbing case in which he was accused along with six others. The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) had registered the case against him, alleging that he illegally acquired government land in Saidapet, Chennai during his tenure as a Minister from 1996 to 2001 under the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party.
During Ponmudi's tenure as the Minister of Mines, allegations were made in 2007 and 2011 that he misused his position and illegally extracted 264,644 loads of red sand in Villupuram, violating quarry conditions. The Villupuram District Crime Branch Police filed a case against Minister Ponmudi, his son Gautham Sigamani, cousin Jayachandran, and others for causing a loss of over 28 crore rupees to the government.
