I-T sleuths raids highway contractor close to AIADMK in Tamil Nadu; Rs 100 crore in cash seized

The Income Tax Department sleuths on Monday launched searches on the premises of SPK Group, one of the major road contractors in Tamil Nadu allegedly connected to political bigwigs in the ruling AIADMK, in Chennai, Madurai and Aruppukottai. The I-T raid at the road contractor could have political implication in the state considering the highway portfolio is being held by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

The searches, triggered by a specific input of huge tax evasion, commenced early on Monday at about 30 locations. The group has been awarded several highway contracts by the state government.

Sources said that unaccounted cash to the tune of over Rs 100 crore was seized along with about 100 kg of gold during the search operations. Besides, the officials also confiscated property documents and also unearthed two shell companies of Nagarajan Seyyadurai, managing director of SPK Group. Sources said that the officials also investigating the link to former DMK minister’s brother who runs a construction company.

DMK working president MK Stalin said that he welcomes the IT raids at the highway contractors close to the Chief Minister in the public interest. He alleged that the road contracts were being given only to Nagarajan who is a partner of Subramanian Palaniswami, the father-in-law of chief minister's son Mithun.

In fact, DMK’s Rajya Sabha MP RS Bharathi complained to the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption last month alleging corruption in awarding contracts to five highways projects to the firms in which chief minister’s relatives were partners.

Denying all the charges, senior AIADMK leader and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said that all the contracts were awarded in a transparent manner through the tender transparency act. “There is nothing wrong in the chief minister relatives getting the contract. The SPK Groups is dong road contract business for over 25 years and even during the DMK rule,” he said. When asked about the timing of the raid that was launched after the visit of BJP president Amit Shah who called Tamil Nadu as a corrupt state, he said that the raids were being conducted on the inputs of tax evasion.

The searches come close on the heels of the IT raids on the premises of Christy Friedgram Private Limited, which was the major supplier of food grains and eggs to the nutritious noon meal programme of the State Government being provided to lakhs of school children.