COIMBATORE: The DMK working president, Mr. M.K. Stalin said here on Friday that the CBI probe into the ‘gutka scam’ would prove to be very difficult for the State Health minister, Vijaybhaskar and some top police officials allegedly involved in illegally permitting sale of ‘gutka’ products.
Mr. Stalin was leading a protest by thousands of DMK cadres here near the south taluk office to protest the arrest of seven DMK members recently arrested in Coimbatore for their protest in front of a ‘gutka’ manufacturing unit in Sulur-Kannampalayam, demanding a fair probe after a police raid on the factory.
Former DMK ministers A. Raja, Subulaxmi Jagadesan, Pongalur N.Palanisamy, Vellakoil Saminathan and Ezhithurai Ramachandran took part in the protests along with Stalin. Speaking at the protest rally, the DMK leader charged a top police official in Coimbatore with having links to the Tamil Nadu Health minister. “To safeguard the minister, police have lodged false complaints against DMK cadres and our MLA, N Karthick,” asserted Mr. Stalin.
Referring to the ‘gutka’ scam that originated in Chennai, he said in July 2016, Income Tax officials raided a ‘gutka godown’ near Mathavaram and unearthed a '220 crore scam. Officials also recovered a diary in which a list of VIPs’ names was mentioned for allegedly receiving Rs 40 crore as ‘bribes’, alleged Mr. Stalin.
Recalling that Mr. O. Panneerselvam was the Chief Minister when the I-T department raided the ‘gutka’ godown near Chennai, Mr. Stalin said the former had then said he had not received any letter from the I-T department seeking action against the corrupt officials.
Dwelling on how the state had sought to block the inquiry into the ‘gutka scam’, the DMK leader said honest officials like DGP Ashok Kumar and vigilance officer, Jayakodi were later removed from the probe.
The DMK leader was also confident that his party would win the next Assembly elections, after which police officers responsible for booking false cases against DMK cadres would have to face “the consequences”. Meanwhile, a court here adjourned the anticipatory bail petition filed by DMK MLA N Karthik to May 10.
