The officials questioned Jothikumar regarding transactions and his connection with a realtor and contractors connected to the sand mafia.
Published Sep 27, 2023 | 3:32 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 27, 2023 | 3:33 PM
Sources from ED stated that they have documentary evidence establishing the money transaction connecting Jothikumar, Shanmugam and sand contractors.
Out of the blue, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday, 26 September, raided the accountant of Kamalalayam, the BJP headquarters of Tamil Nadu. However, the raid was concluded within four hours.
Following the recent raids on the sand mafia in Tamil Nadu, the ED conducted searches against several realtors in Chennai, including the properties of one Shanmugam, a realtor operating in the Tamil Nadu capital.
A team of seven ED officials barged into the apartment of Shanmugam located in T Nagar in the city.
The team also raided one Jothikumar, who is working as an accountant in the Tamil Nadu BJP office and was residing in an apartment owned by Shanmugam, for rent.
According to sources, while raiding the sand contractors K Rathinam, S Ramachandran, and Karikalan, the ED found that a certain amount was transferred every month to the bank account of Shanmugam.
Further, on scrutinising Shanmugam’s bank accounts, the agency found cash transactions between Jothikumar and the realtor.
Following it, the officials questioned Jothikumar regarding certain transactions and his connection with the realtor and sand contractors.
As the news spread, BJP functionaries rushed to the residence of Jothikumar and for some reason were allowed inside the house where the search was going on.
The ED officials wound up their search operations around noon on Tuesday.
Sources from Kamalalayam told South First that Jothikumar had nothing to do with the transactions between the realtors and sand contractors.
“Since Jothikumar was residing in the apartment, he was questioned by the ED officials. After verifying all the credentials, the ED officials let him go,” said the sources.
Asked about any pressure from the Union Finance Ministry on the ED team, the sources said that the issue was escalated to the BJP high command and that the search operation on Jothikumar was inadvisable.
Sources from the ED stated that the probe agency had documentary evidence establishing the monetary transactions connecting Jothikumar, Shanmugam, and sand contractors.
However, there has been no official statement from the ED on the raids conducted.
Following the raids conducted earlier this week on the sand contractors, the ED seized ₹12.82 crore of unaccounted-for cash along with 1 kg of gold.
The agency also sought information on the sales of sand from the Water Resources Department and Public Works Department.
During the raids at 34 places, including eight mining yards in six districts, the ED cracked seized fake sales receipts and duplicate QR codes in selling several lakhs units of sand illegally across the state.
