CBI initiates inquiry into Rs 570 crore seizure during Tamil Nadu polls
New Delhi: The CBI on Monday registered a Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the sensational seizure of Rs 570 crore in three containers in Tirupur on the eve of the May 16 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. The Madras high court had transferred the case to the central agency a month ago.
The seizure had kicked up a huge political row in Tamil Nadu with major Opposition parties alleging irregularities in handling of the issue by the state administration and the Election Commission.
“A Preliminary Inquiry has been ordered into the case. The matter has come to CBI on the orders of Madras High Court,” CBI spokesperson R.K. Gaur said on Monday, without giving any more details. The preliminary inquiry has been lodged against unidentified persons.
The Madras high court had on July 4 directed the CBI to register a preliminary inquiry on a petition filed by DMK MP T.K.S. Elangovan despite opposition from the central agency, which was reluctant to probe the case.
The DMK has been alleging that the cash was meant for bribing voters ahead of the elections and had cast serious doubts over the “delay” in the ECI and Ministry of Finance clarifying that the cash was being transported from Tamil Nadu to Andhra Pradesh by the State Bank of India.
Opposition parties, including the DMK and PMK, have been demanding a thorough probe into the seizure of Rs 570 crore on the intervening night of May 13 and May 14. The state went to the polls on May 16.
Mr Elangovan had on Friday submitted a memorandum to the CBI and asked if the RBI had granted any movement order for carrying the money and alleged that after the three container lorries with Andhra Pradesh registration were seized, attempts had been made to stake a legalised claim of the money.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi had attacked the state government and the Election Commission for “not clarifying their role” in the seizure and had been demanding a CBI probe to get to the bottom of the case. Reacting to the High Court ruling, DMK Treasurer M K Stalin said the CBI probe would reveal the way in which the elections were conducted in Tamil Nadu.
