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Tamil Nadu police files complaint against ED officials over MLA hostel raid
The persons, later identified as ED officers, had raided the hostel as part of ongoing searches at properties linked to Tamil Nadu minister I Periyasamy
The Chennai police on Saturday registered a Community Service Register (CSR) complaint against "unknown persons" after officials from the Enforcement Directorate raided an MLA hostel in the city.
The persons, who were later identified as ED officers, had raided the hostel as part of ongoing searches at properties linked to Tamil Nadu Rural Development Minister I Periyasamy and his son Palani MLA IP Senthil Kumar, NDTV reported.
The agency searches were carried out at three locations simultaneously, which included the minister's residence in Dindigul, his son's residence in Palani, along with the home of his daughter Indirani in Dindigul's Sivaji Nagar.
Ahead of the searches, teams from the central paramilitary forces had already cordoned off the areas in morning, following which they conducted intensive searches of the residence for multiple hours.
The raids by the agency was carried out in connection to a money laundering case, with Periyasamy and his family being under the scanner. However, the family has challenged the case, with the Supreme Court scheduled to hear the plea on August 18.
DMK says raids an attempt to divert attention from ‘vote chori’
The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu said that the raids on the residences of Periyaswami and his family members was an attempt to divert attention from “vote chori”, a term coined by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Responding to the searches, DMK Organisation Secretary R S Bharathi said that the party would “neither fear the ED nor Modi”, PTI reported.
In a statement released by the party, Bharathi alleged that the BJP was using autonomous bodies as “election instruments”, saying that the party, while accusing others of “illegal money laundering”, was engaging in the “politics of vote chori”.
“The BJP stands exposed for indulging in electoral fraud by using the Election Commission. The country is shocked over this. To divert attention from the illegal vote chori, the Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches at premises linked to Periyasamy,” Bharathi alleged.
