After 13 hours of searches and 7 hours of questioning at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) headquarters in Chennai on July 17, Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy and his son Gautam Sigamani were summoned before the ED for further investigation. According to ED sources, summons were issued to the Minister and his son asking them to appear before the investigating officer who is probing the money laundering charges against them.
Sources in the ED said that Ponmudy is being investigated in connection with a corruption case registered against him during the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government in 2012. Ponmudy was accused of granting illegal mining licenses to his son and relatives while he was the Minister for Mines and Mineral Resources during the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) regime between 2007 and 2011. He was named accused number one and his son Gautham Sigamani, who is the present MP of Kallakurichi, was named as the second accused.
ED sources also confirmed to TNM that an amount of Rs 70 lakhs in cash was recovered during the raids, including Rs 10 lakhs worth in foreign currency.
It may also be recalled that in 2020, Ponmudy’s son Gautham Sigamani came under the ED’s scanner after the agency attached property worth Rs 8.6 crore belonging to him. He was accused of illegal acquisition and non-repatriation of foreign exchange earned abroad. Agricultural lands, commercial and residential buildings in Tamil Nadu and bank accounts and shares worth Rs 8.6 crore were found to be held by Gautham.
The ED raids also come at a time when opposition parties from across the country are meeting in Bengaluru for the second time to chalk out a strategy against the BJP for the upcoming 2024 parliamentary elections.
Earlier this month, Ponmudy was acquitted in the land grabbing case registered against him and six others by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). He had been accused of illegally acquiring government land in Chennai’s Saidapet area during his tenure as a Cabinet minister between 1996 and 2001.
It is also to be noted that the action against Ponmudy comes a month after the ED arrested Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji in connection with the cash-for-Job scam and charges of money laundering. Incidentally, Senthil Balaji was transferred to Puzhal jail on Monday while raids were ongoing at Ponmudi’s residence.
The arrest of Senthil Balaji led to massive outrage from several opposition parties who accused the ruling BJP of unleashing central agencies against opposition party leaders to subdue them.
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