Election Commission, I-T officials raid DMK treasurer Durai Murugan’s house, colleges owned by son Kadhir Anand

Vellore: Income Tax department and Election Commission officials have been conducting raids since last night at Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) treasurer Durai Murugan’s residence in Vellore, officials said on Saturday. Kingston Engineering College and Durai Murugan B.Ed College, which are owned by Murugan’s son Kadhir Anand, are also being raided by officials in Katpadi. [caption id=“attachment_6357561” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] DMK treasurer Durai Murugan. ANI[/caption] The DMK has fielded Kadhir Anand from Vellore Parliamentary constituency against AIADMK leader AC Shanmugam. When the officials reached Katpadi, they were not allowed to enter Murugan’s house by his advocate and DMK members, stating that the officials have no valid documents to carry out raids. After an hour of delay, Assistant Commissioner of the I-T department Vijay Deepan arrived at the residence, following which a heated argument broke out between officials and DMK cadres. The officials had come to search the house based on Section 131 of the Income Tax Act, which empowers the I-T authorities to conduct inquiries. DMK treasurer Durai Murugan, however, attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking to media about the I-T raid. Murgan said, “It is a very wrong calculation that by ordering IT raids on us we would raise ‘Modi jai ho’ slogans. This is a democratic country and whoever in the past has done this wrong calculation have been themselves proven wrong.” “This will not bring any success to him rather it will only bring criticism and blame on him. It is a conspiracy which will never win,” he added. Sharing details of the raid, he said, “Income Tax officials told me that they want to search. I told them to go ahead. They wanted my personal room to be searched as well. I did not object to it as well.”

Today Tamil Nadu. Nasty tour of political vendetta continues. After Bengal, Delhi, UP, Andhra, Bihar, Karnataka & others, the BJP govt now harassed more political opponents. IT officials raid @arivalayam DMK treasurer whose son is a candidate. We condemn this @mkstalin: Derek

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 30, 2019

Meanwhile, Murugan’s supporters alleged that the raids are “politically motivated” and officials are not abiding the law. Hundreds of police personnel have been deployed at the site.