Raids on TN min: I-T dept terms attack on officials ‘deliberate’
The raids against minister Senthil Balaji have been ongoing for three consecutive days, with searches taking place in Chennai, Coimbatore, and Karur districts.
Director of Income Tax (investigation) Sivasankaran said on Sunday that the attack on the department’s officials during raids related to Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji was a “deliberate” act by his supporters. Sivasankaran informed reporters in Karur that an FIR had been filed, and eight individuals were arrested in connection with the incident.
“We have filed an FIR, and we have been told that eight people have been arrested,” Sivasankaran said.
Sivasankaran further said that four income tax officials, including a female officer who suffered a fracture, were discharged from Karur government hospital on Sunday after receiving treatment.
“We have told the police to take action against those who assaulted and those who have tampered with the evidence,” said Sivasankaran.
“We will be filing more cases. If they file a counter FIR, we will not be scared.”
The raids against minister Senthil Balaji have been ongoing for three consecutive days, with searches taking place in Chennai, Coimbatore, and Karur districts.
The income tax department officials faced opposition and violence during coordinated searches in locations linked to the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) minister. A car was also vandalized during the incident. Balaji’s supporters gathered in large numbers in Karur and raised slogans against the BJP-led Union government when officials arrived to search his brother V Ashok’s house.
Karur superintendent of police, E Sundaravathaman, stated at the time that the income tax officials did not inform the local police in advance, as per procedure, which resulted in the lack of security deployment.
These raids come after the Supreme Court permitted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to continue their investigation into Balaji regarding the cash-for-jobs scam, where he is accused of accepting bribes during his tenure as transport minister in the previous AIADMK government from 2011 to 2015.
On the attack, DMK’s organising secretary R S Bharathi said that the BJP is using the wings of IT, ED and CBI against opposition parties.
He added since the Karur SP has said that the I-T department did not inform them of the raids, it raises doubt if it was deliberate to “create a law and order” problem to show that their officials were attacked.