'OPS has amassed illegal wealth': Details of DMK's complaint to Vigilance Department

On Monday, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP RS Bharathi filed a complaint with the Vigilance Department on Monday charging Paneerselvam with corruption and bribery.The complaint was sent to the Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, Tamil Nadu, on behalf of the DMK.

Bharathi, in the complaint, alleged that the Deputy CM and his close associates have “amassed wealth beyond the known source of income and invested the same in companies and properties either in his name or in the names of others.”

The complaint also stated that the deputy CM has “made false declarations before the Income Tax authorities and Election officials”.

“It is reliably learnt that Thiru. O Panneerselvam had invested money and bought properties in the names of his wife, children, brothers– Thiru. O Raja, Thiru. O Balamurugan and Thiru. O Shanmugha Sundaram and their families – and his business associates, including Thiru. R Subburaj and his wife Tmt. Uma Maheshwari,” read the complaint.

Further, it also alleged that the Deputy CM “made several declarations by suppressing material facts and by making inconsistent statements which are inherently improbable and false”.

Bharathi’s complaint also listed several properties allegedly owned by Panneerselvam and by close aides on his behalf. The list included Bojarajan Mills in Theni district, which is about 99 acres and was leased by the government. It is valued at over Rs 140 crore. However, the complaint claimed that the Deputy CM bought the property at less than the market rate, using his ‘benamies’.

The complaint listed other properties allegedly acquired by the Deputy CM, which includes a mango grove in Srivilliputhur. It also claimed that he abused his position by controlling the cardamom markets in Bodinayakkanur through his benamies.

The complaint also referred to the diary entries by mining baron Sekar Reddy, which allegedly records the Deputy CM and his aides receiving close to Rs 4 crore in less than 6 months.

“He has thus rendered himself liable to be prosecuted under the Income Tax Act, Representation of People Act, Indian Penal Code, Prohibition of Benami Transactions Act, Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act,” it stated.

Stating that his actions constituted abuse of power, being liable for acquiring disproportionate assets to his known income, Bharathi, in the complaint, request the Vigilance Department to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations.

In 1996, it was the DMK that filed a number of corruption cases, including the disproportionate assets case, against former CM Jayalalithaa, which led to her conviction 18 years later.