Modi, Arun Jaitley trying to destroy my family: Dhinakaran on I-T raids

Chennai: Sidelined All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader TTV Dhinakaran on Saturday said attempts are being made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to destroy his family by using the Income Tax department.

Speaking to the media, Dinakaran said, "Arun Jaitley and Prime Minister Modi are trying to destroy our family using the IT department, which is under their control. We are not scared and we will not run away".

A shrine which was used by former chief minister Jayalalithaa was raided, neither EPS nor OPS or the ministers were present outside, said the AIADMK leader.

"When Amma was in hospital, Prime Minister Modi, who claims that he was her friend, never visited her. But today, he has gone and visited DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. We never made this a political issue. Only our supporters were gathered outside. This shows that OPS and EPS will go to any extent to safeguard their positions," Dinakaran asserted.

He added that a laptop, few pendrives and party related letters were recovered by the I-T.

"We don't know why Jaya's room was not raided, may be they went in search of huge amount of money, gold and other materials, but what they got was only laptop and pendrives," he said.

Earlier on November 9, the I-T department raided the premises of Jaya TV and Dr Namadhu MGR, a Tamil newspaper.

AIADMK Karnataka in-charge, E Pugazhendi's house was also raided by the department in Bengaluru's Domlur area.

This was conducted after reports of alleged tax evasion by the channel and newspaper surfaced.

Jaya TV, which is considered as the mouthpiece of AIADMK, was founded by former chief minister Jayalalithaa.

However, the channel is now controlled by former party general secretary VK Sasikala's family members.