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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday, October 27, wrote to the Tamil Nadu Police alleging a large-scale cash-for-jobs scam in the state’s Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) Department, and urged it to register a First Information Report (FIR) for a probe.
In its letter to the Director General of Police (DGP), the ED alleged that several candidates paid bribes ranging between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 35 lakh to secure positions such as Assistant Engineers, Junior Engineers, and Town Planning Officers.
It also claimed that recruitment procedures were manipulated, and around 150 candidates who allegedly paid bribes were appointed. According to the agency the cash was collected through hawala channels.
ED said that the appointments were part of the recruitment process for 2024–25 and 2025–26, for which Chief Minister MK Stalin handed over appointment orders on August 6 this year.
The agency has also submitted a 232-page dossier containing the names of beneficiaries, transaction details, and digital evidence to support its claims.
The ED stated that the evidence gathered was only the tip of the iceberg and urged the state police to register a case under relevant provisions so that an investigation can proceed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
According to the ED, the findings emerged during its raids conducted as part of a money laundering investigation linked to True Value Homes (TVH), a real estate firm associated with the brother of Tamil Nadu Minister for Municipal Administration KN Nehru.
Reacting to the allegations, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami alleged that over Rs 800 crore in bribes had exchanged hands and accused Minister KN Nehru and his associates of collecting money illegally. He urged the Tamil Nadu DGP to act impartially and ensure a fair investigation.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Nainar Nagenthran said that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government is now turning the future of honest Tamil Nadu youths into a void and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation to inquire the case.
However, Minister KN Nehru dismissed the ED’s allegations as baseless and “politically motivated.” In a statement issued on October 29, Nehru said that the recruitment was conducted transparently by Anna University through an online process that received over two lakh applications.
Examinations were held in 591 centres across 38 districts, he said, adding that the results were published on September 20, 2024, and not a single objection was received from candidates. “The same Anna University conducted recruitments during the previous AIADMK regimes between 2012 and 2017. The ED’s claims are laughable and politically driven,” he said.
He further alleged that the ED’s move was an attempt by the Union government to accuse the Dravidian model of governance. “Unable to accept Tamil Nadu’s progress, the Enforcement Directorate has undertaken this political action only to defame our government,” he said.
(With IANS inputs)