In a massive raid, carried out jointly by the Election Commission surveillance squad and Income-Tax department late on Tuesday night, resulted in the seizing of Rs 1.48 crore from a store allegedly run by a supporter of the TTV Dhinakaran led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK). According to news reports, this happened in the Theni Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu.
The authorities also had to indulge in firing warning shots in the air when the AMMK supporters refused to leave the site and objected to the raid.
No one was injured.
The authorities had received a tip off about a huge amount of cash being stored in a building. However, once the team arrived, the store owner fled from the scene. There was commotion and arguments that ensued between the officials and the party workers. Four AMMK volunteers were detained in connection with the incident.
Sources suggest that the officials seized a number of cash packets with the names of voters and ward number written on them. “The packets have ward numbers and number of voters written on them and Rs 300 is written on each of the packets. The raid is continuing,” the senior official said.
The raids happened a few hours after the I-T officials searched the house of DMK Lok Sabha candidate Kanimozhi in Thoothukudi but it resulted in nothing being found. The search generated a political row with Kanimozhi accusing the authorities of targeting her as she represented the opposition alliance.
Also Read: NewsMobile Election Central
Tamil Nadu is a part of phase 2 polling for which the date is April 18. All the 39 Lok Sabha seats of Tamil Nadu are a part of phase 2.
Another case of illegal cash being used for voters was found in the Vellore parliamentary constituency and the Election Commission countermanded elections there.