Raids by the ED against Sigamani in 2020 resulted in the attachment of assets worth Rs 8.6 crore. According to reports, these were connected to the unauthorized acquisition and non-repatriation of foreign exchange earnings from abroad.
In-depth details on facing charges of resource exploitation in a ten-year-old case, Tamil Nadu Minister Ponmudy is the target of ED raids
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) started a search operation at the home of Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy on Monday, one month after the arrest of former minister V Senthil Balaji. Starting at 7 am, the operation spread to four places, including Villupuram and Chennai.
A group of seven ED officials are in charge of conducting searches of locations connected to senior DMK leader Ponmudy, including his residence, as well as those of his son, MP Gautham Sigamani, his close relatives, and colleagues. They have the protection of paramilitary troops.
ED hasn’t publicly stated the motivations behind this operation, but reports indicate they have to do with a 2012 complaint made against Ponmudy and Sigamani, a state lawmaker from the Kallakurichi constituency.
In this case, Ponmudy is accused of breaking the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concessions Act from 2006 to 2011 while serving as the DMK government’s minister of mines and minerals. In the case, Ponmudy was accused of disobeying numerous Act and Mines and Minerals Act regulations by awarding a red sand quarry at Poothurai in the Vanur block.
Excessive mining over the permitted depth and resource overexploitation since 2007 are among the accused infractions. This mining was worth approximately Rs 28.37 crore. The second defendant in the lawsuit is his son, Sigamani.
Raids by the ED against Sigamani in 2020 resulted in the attachment of assets worth Rs 8.6 crore. According to reports, these were connected to the unauthorized acquisition and non-repatriation of foreign exchange earnings from abroad.
Ponmudy has already been accused of bribery and land grabs. Ponmudy was exonerated earlier this month in a case concerning the unauthorized acquisition of public land in Chennai’s Saidapet neighborhood while he served as a DMK minister from 1996 to 2001.
The ED conducted raids at Ponmudy’s residences a month after searching the homes and properties of former Tamil Nadu minister for excise, prohibition, and electricity V Senthil Balaji and apprehending him in connection with the suspected job racket scheme.
“ED has joined the election campaign,” declares CM MK Stalin.
Stalin has referred to the ED’s case against Ponmudy as “false,” claiming that it was “foisted” upon him under the AIADMK dictatorship led by the late J Jayalalithaa. To deflect attention, he described the ED action as “usual, ordinary, and a drama,” adding that the DMK was “not worried a wee bit.”
Stalin was cited by news agency PTI as saying, “Governor R N Ravi is already running a poll campaign for us and now that the ED has joined (the poll scene), I feel the election work for us will be easy.” Stalin was reportedly making this statement while en route to the Opposition meeting in Bengaluru.
