A month after the arrest of former minister V Senthil Balaji, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) began a search operation at the residence of Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy Monday. The operation, which started at 7 am, extended to four locations, including Villupuram and Chennai. The raids come hours before the Opposition meeting scheduled to take place in Bengaluru where leaders of 24 'like-minded-parties’, including DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, are expected to take part and discuss their strategies in taking forward their fight against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. With security cover from paramilitary forces, a team of seven ED officers are leading the searches across premises linked to senior DMK leader Ponmudy, including his residence, as well as his son and MP Gautham Sigamani, his close relatives, and associates. While ED has not officially revealed the reasons for this operation, sources suggest it relates to a 2012 case filed against Ponmudy and Sigamani, a Member of Parliament from the state’s Kallakurichi constituency. This case alleges violations of the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concessions Act during Ponmudy’s tenure as the minister of mines and minerals from 2006-11 in the previous DMK regime. Ponmudy was accused of allocating a red sand quarry at Poothurai in Vanur block in the case, disregarding several provisions of the Act and the Mines and Minerals Act. The alleged violations include excessive mining beyond the prescribed depth, resulting in the overexploitation of resources since 2007. The estimated value of this mining was around Rs 28.37 crore. His son Sigamani has been listed as the second accused in the case. In 2020, ED had conducted raids against Sigamani, leading to the attachment of properties worth Rs 8.6 crore. These were reportedly linked to illegal acquisition and non-repatriation of foreign exchange earnings from overseas. In the past, Ponmudy has faced charges of corruption and land grabbing. In one such case involving the illegal acquisition of government land in Chennai's Saidapet area during his time as a DMK minister from 1996 to 2001, Ponmudy was acquitted earlier this month. ED raids at Ponmudy's properties come a month after the agency searched former Tamil Nadu minister for electricity, prohibition, and excise V Senthil Balaji's residence and properties and later arrested him in connection with the alleged job racket scam. 'ED has joined poll campaign': CM MK Stalin hits out Stalin has called the ED's case Ponmudy as "false", saying that it was 'foisted' on him during the late J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK regime. He called the ED action, "usual, ordinary and a drama" to divert attention, adding that the DMK was "not worried a wee bit". "Governor R N Ravi is already conducting a poll campaign for us and now, the ED has joined (the poll scene) and I feel the election work for us will be easy," Stalin was quoted as saying by news agency PTI while he was on his way to attend the Opposition meet in Bengaluru.
