On Tuesday morning, a highly combative and defensive Rama Mohana Rao IAS, the former Chief Secretary of the government of Tamil Nadu, spoke to the media outside his residence in Anna Nagar in Chennai, and said that the I-T raids on his residence and his office were an attack on his post, and in violation of the Constitution.
Last week, several residences and offices belonging to Rao and his family members were searched by the I-T department, with ED and CBI officials in tow.
Here are five sensational claims made by Rama Mohana Rao at his press meet on Tuesday:
1. “I was under house arrest for 36 hours”
He stated that he was kept under house-arrest by CRPF personnel, and asked what it was that they really wanted from him. He added that only his wife and daughter were in the house when I-T personnel came for the raid.
2. “My name was not mentioned in the search warrant”
He said that the search warrant was not issued on his name, and that only his son Vivek’s name was mentioned in the warrant. He asked on what basis then the IT department, a central government organization, raided his office at the TN secretariat which is under the jurisdiction of the state government.
3. “CRPF held my son at gun point”
He said that his son Vivek was threatened and kept at gun point by CRPF personnel and that his daughter-in-law was in advanced stage of pregnancy.
4. “I am being targeted and I fear that my life is in danger”
He said that in the absence of Jayalalithaa, there was no security in the state for him and that he fears for his life. He asked if such an incident would have happened if Jayalalithaa would have been alive. He however refused to name who was threatening his life.
5. “I am still Chief Secretary of the state”
He stated that he has not been served with any transfer orders and that he is still the chief secretary of the state government.
Further, he also denied that his son Vivek had got any government contracts. He added that he would now go to the "people's court” for justice.
He also said that the CS office holds many secrets and that the central government cannot enter it in such a manner. “What is the Chief Secretary's chamber? It has the secrets of various Chief Ministers, their decisions, their orders, and confidential reports, criminal cases filed against ministers, IAS officers, IPS officers. What did they find? They found my MRC club membership, which I have never visited,” he said.