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Vigilance raids properties of Velumani, seizes ₹13L cash
The FIR said that there has been cheating and criminal misappropriation of public money amounting to several crores of the Tamil Nadu government, and hence the accused have been booked under sections 120 B, r/w 420 IPC, 409 IPC, section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(c) and 13(1 )(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act r/w 109 IPC.
In what is being termed by the opposition AIADMK as ruling-DMK government’s ‘political vendetta’, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday conducted more than 60 raids in residences, farm houses, offices linked to AIADMK heavyweight and former municipal administration minister S P Velumani, after registering a case against him on Monday of willfully abusing his official position in awarding contracts to his close associates, including his brother.
Following search operations on Tuesday, the DVAC seized ₹1,308,500 in cash, fixed deposits of ₹2 crores, official records from the corporations, hard disks, incriminating documents including land registration and business transactions. “The raids are complete for now and he cooperated,” said a DVAC official who conducted searches at Chennai’s MLA hostel where Velumani was present.
The FIR said that there has been cheating and criminal misappropriation of public money amounting to several crores of the Tamil Nadu government, and hence the accused have been booked under sections 120 B, r/w 420 IPC, 409 IPC, section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(c) and 13(1 )(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act r/w 109 IPC.
DVAC filed the cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the IPC was filed based on complaints filed by DMK MP RS Bharathi and anti-corruption NGO Arappor Iyakkam in 2018.
Searches went on throughout the day at places belonging to Velumani, contractors and civic officers in Coimbatore, Chennai, Dindigul and Kancheepuram. “But no arrests so far,” said a senior DVAC official.
Besides Velumani, 16 others, including his close associates and road contractors have been named as accused. The FIR said that Velumani allotted tenders worth ₹464 crores for work executed by the Greater Chennai Corporation, and ₹346.8 crores to Coimbatore Corporation for companies closely associated with him during the period between 2014 and 2018. Being the municipal administration minister, from 2014 to 2021, he was the administrative head of the municipal corporations.
Investigations reveal that prima facie there is a cognisable offence that all the 17 and unknown officials of the civic bodies showed favouritism in awarding contracts for laying bituminous bus route roads, stormwater drains and providing staff nurses for an urban primary healthcare centre. Criminal misappropriation and violations were found during three stages of the tender process- bidding, negotiation and execution of work.
While awarding these tender contracts, officials of the Chennai and Coimbatore municipalities “blatantly violated” several provisions of the state’s tender laws “under the influence and directions” of Velumani, the FIR said. The FIR analysed 10 companies that grew phenomenally in a short span and showed massive turnovers due to the alleged collusion. One of the companies, C R Construction had a turnover of ₹0.38 crores in the 2012-13 fiscal year, which grew to ₹43.56 crores in five years (2018-19).
The FIR said that Velumani dishonestly and fraudulently misappropriated the funds involved in the tenders.
Hailing from the Coimbatore district, he emerged as a powerful leader given his close proximity to former chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami, after he took over in 2017, following J Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016. Velumani enjoys a level of clout that he is dubbed locally as ‘Coimbatore chief minister’. He also draws huge support on the ground. Families from the lower social strata are known to approach him for help in jobs and education which he fulfils.
This explains Velumani election as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for four straight polls since 2006 when he was first elected from the Perur constituency. He’s the incumbent MLA from the Thondamathur constituency and was recently elected as AIADMK’s whip in the assembly. Hundreds of AIADMK cadre protested in front of Velumani’s Coimbatore residence while raids were on.
In a joint statement, Palaniswami and party coordinator O Panneerselvam called it DMK’s political vendetta. “We are ready to face the false accusations legally and politically. But without any proof, accusing someone of corruption is wrong,” the statement said.
Velumani is the second AIADMK leader being raided by DVAC after a case was registered against former transport minister M R Vijayabhaskar in July.
It all started when the DMK, while in opposition, submitted a list of corruption charges against the then AIADMK ministers, which included Velumani and Palaniswami, to Governor Banwarilal Purohit in December 2020. The party later made an election promise to establish a special court to prosecute ministers of the previous government on graft charges.
A preliminary report in 2018 was submitted to the Madras high court in a sealed cover where the case is pending. When the case came up for hearing on 19 July this year, the court directed for further investigations to get to the bottom of the matter. Reports filed by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) have also highlighted the “injudicious awarding of tenders resulting in huge loss to the government”.
