DVAC searches premises linked to ex-Minister K.N. Nehru

Multiple teams of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) conducted searches at the residence of former Minister K.N. Nehru of the DMK in Tiruchi, and four other places in the district on Thursday in connection with the alleged multi-crore cash-for-jobs scam.

Searches were also conducted at multiple locations across the State. Headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police of the agency, the searches at Mr. Nehru’s residence at Thillai Nagar in Tiruchi commenced around 7 a.m. Several DMK members gathered in front of his residence.

The searches came against the backdrop of the Madras High Court clearing the decks for the DVAC to investigate the case filed against the former Minister. K.N. Nehru cash-for-jobs scam case: Madras High Court clears decks for DVAC probe What did the ED dossiers against T.N.

Minister K.N. Nehru contain | Explained During the nearly eight-hour operation, investigators seized a tablet computer and a few documents connected with the case, DVAC sources said. Mr. Nehru, who was the Municipal Administration Minister in the DMK government of 2021-2026, was present at the time.

Similar searches were conducted at the residence of DMK town secretary Murali at Thuraiyur in Tiruchi district, and the residence of a person named Mohanraj at Manapparai. Searches were also conducted at the residences of two individuals at Srirangam and Tiruvanaikoil in Tiruchi, police sources said.

DVAC officials also conducted searches on the premises belonging to Mr. Nehru’s brother on Tiruchi Road and at GV Residency in Coimbatore. The DVAC had registered a case against Mr. Nehru and others on the basis of a complaint filed by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).

In a letter to the then Director-General of Police and Head of Police Force, the central agency had levelled serious allegations of corruption in the recruitment of 2,538 Assistant Engineers, Junior Engineers, and Town Planning Officers in the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department when Mr.

Nehru was holding the portfolio. In Namakkal, the DVAC officials searched the residence of former DMK MLA Ramalingam. They also visited the house of Durai, a relative of Mr. Nehru, but it was locked. Searches were also conducted at premises linked to former DMK MLA from Vellore’s Anaicut Assembly constituency A.P.

Nandakumar, and industrialist and former member of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) J. Sekar Reddy at Katpadi in Vellore. It is learnt that the searches were part of the ongoing probe against Mr. Nehru. Mr. Nehru said the searches at his residence could be a diversionary tactic by the TVK-led government in the wake of a spike in crimes in the State and a jailbreak in Theni.

Speaking to journalists outside his residence in Tiruchi after the searches ended, he said the DVAC team took away a couple of laptops belonging to his brother Manivannan, but no documents were seized. The team conducted thorough checks, and did not ask him any question, he said.

Just as the DMK faced several cases under the AIADMK rule of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, it would do so now under TVK rule, he said. DMK president M.K. Stalin on Thursday alleged Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, “having made Tamil Nadu unsafe for women, children and the elderly”, was resorting to breaking news, roadshows, and other publicity tactics to divert public attention from the deteriorating law-and-order situation.

In a social media post, he accused Mr. Vijay of inducting “corrupt politicians” into the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) while targeting former DMK Ministers. “His vendetta politics will be defeated in the court of law and in the court of public opinion,” he said.

Mr. Stalin said the DMK and its cadres would not be intimidated by raids and arrests, which he claimed were staged to deliver punch dialogues with dramatic modulation for the Tiruchi East byelection. “It is not just Tamil Nadu; the entire country is ridiculing the TVK government for the deterioration in law and order, rudderless administration, and price rise.

Do not think that DMK cadres can be silenced. They will expose the misdeeds of the TVK government,” he said.