DVAC holds searches at 30 places linked to K.N. Nehru

Officers of Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) carried out simultaneous searches at 30 locations linked to former Minister and DMK chief Ok.N. Nehru in Chennai, Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Erode, and Tiruppur on Saturday.

In response to sources, the searches had been held as a part of an investigation into the alleged irregularities in contracts awarded by the Municipal Administration and Water Provide (MAWS) Division between 2021 and 2025, when Mr. Nehru held the portfolio. In Chennai, Mr. Nehru’s residence in Mylapore and premises linked to him and his brother, Ravichandran, in Thiruvanmiyur, Adyar, Anna Nagar, and Raja Annamalaipuram had been searched.

The DVAC officers seized 241 incriminating paperwork, moreover digital proof, allegedly linked to irregularities within the tender course of.

The investigation is continuous, the DVAC mentioned.

Officers of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) carried out a search on the residence of former Municipal Administration Minister and DMK principal secretary Ok.N. Nehru at Tiruchi on Saturday.

In Tiruchi, searches had been carried out on the residences of the Company’s former Chief Engineer Sivapatham at Shanmuga Nagar and Mr. Nehru’s former Private Assistant Manikandan in Srirangam. The searches had been carried out based mostly on a First Info Report (FIR) registered by the DVAC Headquarters in Chennai towards Mr. Nehru and 12 others concerning allegations of get together fund assortment from the tender awardees, sources from the investigating company mentioned.

A DVAC crew led by a girl Deputy Superintendent of Police started the search at Former Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, Tiruchi Mayor M. Anbazhagan and several other DMK members had been current in the course of the search at Mr. Nehru’s residence at Thillai Nagar in Tiruchi round 8 a.m..The investigating company has collected just a few paperwork from the residence of Mr. Nehru and enquired him. The seven-hour-long search concluded at 3 p.m, the sources mentioned.

After the seven-hour-long search concluded at 3 p.m., Mr. Nehru advised reporters exterior his residence that that the DVAC crew had advised him within the morning that there was some flaw within the tender based mostly on which an FIR had been registered. Searches had been additionally carried out at his residence in Chennai moreover within the workplace of his brother, Mr. Nehru mentioned and claimed that the crew couldn’t get something. Nevertheless, the crew took a replica of a workplace file which he termed it as a “routine file”.

‘Prolonged full cooperation’

Mr. Nehru mentioned he had prolonged full cooperation to the DVAC crew in the course of the search, which, he mentioned, He alleged that he had not spoken to anybody concerning the tender difficulty and was harmless. This was a brand new case by the DVAC towards him, he added.

Requested whether or not the searches had been carried out by the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) authorities to intimidate him and likewise due to political vendetta, Mr. Nehru mentioned it , he was absolutely an act of political vendetta by the TVK authorities. Replying to a query, Mr. Nehru He additional mentioned DMK president M.Ok. Stalin had spoken to him and requested him to increase cooperation for the search.

‘No political vendetta’

Dismissing the allegations of political retaliation, Minister for Vitality Assets and Legislation C.T.R. Nirmalkumar mentioned the DVAC searches on the residences of senior political figures had been fully procedure-driven, and that no particular person possessed the authority to intrude in anti-corruption investigations. Firmly dismissing allegations of political retaliation, he mentioned: “There’s completely no political vendetta behind this. Nobody has the correct to intrude within the functioning of the DVAC.”

In Coimbatore, the DVAC carried out searches on the residences of Mr. Nehru’s brothers Manivannan at Kallimadai and Ravichandran at Masakalipalayam. The residence of the Company’s retired City Planning Officer, Sasi Priya, at Sivaram Nagar in Ramanathapuram was additionally searched.

A crew led by DVAC Further Superintendent of Police (ADSP) Rajesh, together with Inspector Arumugam and different personnel, commenced the searches round 7 a.m. The groups searched the premises and examined paperwork and different materials that could possibly be related to the allegations towards the people, police sources mentioned.