EPS meets Amit Shah, seeks central probe into ‘PTR audio clips’, says it is ‘no ordinary matter’

EPS met Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda late on Wednesday at the national capital.

Also read: PTR says Audio clip with comments on DMK first family fabricated’

‘Not an ordinary matter’

“We told (Shah) about this. It is a big issue, not some ordinary matter. Shocking details have emerged from this audio. There are reports claiming that Tamil Nadu’s finance minister has made some remarks in the audio,” Palaniswami said.

Palaniswami further said that with PTR purported to have named the two persons, “this matter should be thoroughly probed”.

“He has said it is all cut-paste job (digital alterations) which we are not aware of. We had not responded to the matter earlier. But now he (PTR) is issuing media statements and now there seems to be some issue in this. This is dangerous,” Palaniswami added.

Whether there is truth about the assets of the DMK leaders concerned or PTR’s insistence “that he did not speak” in the audio should be investigated and the Centre should take action, he said.

“This matter should not be ignored,” said EPS, adding that Shah told him he was also aware of the issue.

“We have told him this (issue) should be probed and people should be told the truth,” the AIADMK chief added.

Palaniswami also sought to know why Chief Minister MK Stalin has not responded on the matter so far.

Also read: ‘Desperate attempt by blackmail gang,’ says PTR

‘Blackmail gang’

PTR, on Wednesday, took to Twitter to allege that a “blackmail gang” was making a “desperate attempt” to disparage him and the ruling DMK in the state by releasing fabricated audio clips.

His video message came a day after Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai released an audio clip claiming to contain the voice of PTR purportedly talking about the influence wielded by Udhayanidhi Stalin and Sabareesan — the son and son-in-law, respectively, of Chief Minister MK Stalin.

This was the second such audio clip released so far.

Also read: Audio clip, allegedly of TN’s FM PTR, puts DMK in the dock

In the first, PTR purportedly is heard claiming that the top DMK leadership in the state was “minting crores at the expense of the common man”.

PTR on Saturday released a statement and visual analyses that sought to show how audio snippets from different instances were spliced together to create the clip Annamalai had shared.

This is hardly the first time Annamalai has been accused of releasing allegedly doctored content to target the DMK.

Besides an audio clip from earlier this month, Annamalai in January released “edited” clips that attempted to show Tamil Nadu’s ruling party in poor light.

(With PTI inputs)