CHENNAI: The I-T raids at DMK treasurer Duraimurugan's house was initiated following information provided by the police, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo has informed.
The income tax sleuths on Saturday conducted searches on the premises of Duraimurugan in Vellore district near here over suspected use of unaccounted money for electioneering and seized Rs 10 lakh of alleged "excess" cash. Duraimurugan however alleged that the raids were a "conspiracy" by some political leaders who could not face them in the electoral arena.
When asked by reporters, the CEO said the raids were outcome of the information provided by the police. Duraimurugan's son Kathir Anand is contesting from Vellore Lok Sabha constituency.
The CEO further said that about Rs 70.90 crore has been seized so far by the EC flying squads. About 506 cases of poll violations have been registered. The EC has received 833 complaints of distribution of cash to voters and has registered 37 cases thus far.
ECI team to visit TN on April 2 for review:
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora will lead an ECI delegation for a two-day trip to Tamil Nadu on April 2 to review the poll preparedness for the April 18 Lok Sabha elections.
The Election Commission delegation will meet representatives of political parties, Satyabrata Sahoo said here. "The Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners will be in Chennai on April 2 and 3 to meet representatives of political parties and hold various election related meetings," he told reporters.
Meanwhile, in view of the polls, the state government has arranged to operate 400 special buses from Chennai to various districts to enable the people to travel to their native places to cast their votes on the poll day.
The buses will leave from Koyambedu and Perangalathur and the services would be started two days before the election date. The Metro rail will also operate special services between 4.30 am and 11 pm from Monday to Saturday.
