Thoothukudi: It turned out to be a case of much ado about nothing. A surprise 'raid' by Income Tax (I-T) sleuths at DMK candidate Kanimozhi's residence and office in Thoothukudi on Tuesday night, hours after electioneering for the Lok Sabha polls was over, yielded nothing.
A group of ten including a woman officer allegedly gate-crashed into Kanimozhi's house when one of her personal assistants, Manu, was giving an interview to a television channel at around 8.35 pm, sources told DC.
However, official sources later said that it was not a "raid" by I-T sleuths but only a "search" of her premises, based on some information which turned out to be false.
Former minister Geetha Jeevan, who is coordinating Kanimozhi's campaign in Thoothukudi constituency, also confirmed that the I-T officials found nothing in the search.
There were some tense moments as the officials allegedly grabbed the mobile phone of a TV reporter and erased the video he had recorded of the officials entering the house where Kanimozhi has been staying. Moreover other than Kanimozhi's personal assistants and the Thoothukudi MLA, Geetha Jeevan, others were asked to leave.
Another team of I-T officials also conducted the search simultaneously at the adjacent house, where Kanimozhi was said to be taking rest after completing her last day campaign in Kovilpatti in her Thoothukudi constituency.
The DMK cadres thronged in front of Kanimozhi's residence shouted slogans against the BJP government and the Tamil Nadu state government for misusing the I-T department against DMK.
Geetha Jeevan's repeated appeals to the angry cadres to cool down, failed to pacify them. Nonetheless, it turned out to be an anti-climax of sorts, even as top leaders of the DMK and Congress condemned the 'raids' at Kanimozhi's residence.
