CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at Kingston Engineering College, owned by DMK MP Kathir Anand, in Tamil Nadu's Vellore, ended on Sunday after two days.
Anand, a two-term MP from the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency, is the son of DMK General Secretary and Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister S. Duraimurugan, the number two in the Tamil Nadu cabinet led by Chief Minister M.K.Stalin.
The raids, which lasted 44 hours, involved over 15 ED officials, who arrived in eight cars. Searches were conducted at multiple locations, including the college, the residences of Anand and Duraimurugan, and properties associated with their associates in Katpadi and Vellore.
Sources revealed that the ED seized unaccounted cash, documents related to the college’s financial transactions, and a hard disk.
College authorities, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that the seized money was meant for paying staff salaries and Pongal festival bonuses, and that it consisted of student fee collections.
The searches are believed to be linked to a 2019 Income Tax case against Kathir Anand involving allegations of cash-for-votes during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
At the time, election officials confiscated Rs 11 crore from Anand’s associates, leading to the cancellation of the election in the Vellore constituency.
Then President Ram Nath Kovind, acting on a recommendation from the Election Commission, rescinded the Lok Sabha election in Vellore due to the seizure of unaccounted cash from Anand’s associates.
The election, initially scheduled for April 18, 2019, was cancelled two days earlier, on April 16.
It was then held on August 5, 2019, in which Kathir Anand, representing the DMK, narrowly defeated A.C. Shanmugham of the AIADMK by a margin of 8, 141 votes.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Anand secured a more decisive victory, defeating Shanmugham, who had since joined the BJP, by a significant margin of 2, 15, 702 votes.
The DMK has labelled the ED’s actions as a "political vendetta".
This is not the first instance of ED raids targeting DMK leaders.
In a previous case, searches were conducted at the premises of Tamil Nadu Forest Minister K. Ponmudy and his son, Gautham Sigamani, in connection with a money laundering investigation.
On Saturday, shortly after the raids began, Duraimurugan and Arakkonam MP S. Jagathrakshakan left Chennai for New Delhi by air.
Political analysts believe the ongoing ED raids are intensifying ahead of the upcoming elections, raising concerns of partisan targeting of opposition leaders.