Found missing Gutkha scam document in Jaya's house during search: I-T Department
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Jan 12, 2018, 06.40 PM IST
CHENNAI: The Income Tax department has disclosed that it was during its search operation at Veda Nilayam - where former chief minister J Jayalalithaa lived - that it discovered the Top Secret file detailing bribes to top state officials and police officers to allow sale of Gutkha.
In November last year, tax officials organised elaborate raids across over 180 locations in Tamil Nadu targeting associates of Jayalalithaa's aie VK Sasikala, who is now in jail after having been convicted in a disproportionate assets case. As a continuation, officials on November 17 undertook what they called a "search and retrieve" mission at Veda Nilayam in Poes Garden. In the words of a senior officer involved in the mission: "We received an input that some important electronic storage devices from two rooms used by Sasikala in Veda Nilayam. So, we have gone on a limited mission and recovered a laptop, 4 pen drives and a desktop. We are not searching the entire premises."
"We got to know that some people wanted to remove them clandestinely. In that mission, we found the file[The gutkha scam document], too," a senior officer involved in the raids told ET.
In an affidavit filed with The Madras High Court, the I-T department submitted the same today in a case filed by the DMK seeking a CBI probe into the case.
Politically, the search and retrieve mission triggered some outrage among AIADMK cadre who gathered outside the bungalow of the former chief minister. Vivek Jayaraman, son of Sasikala's sister-in-law Ilavarasi, had even commented, having arrived at the residence after the raid, that it was shame that the sanctity of the house Jayalalithaa lived has been diminished.
Politics aside, the state government had also faced flak earlier for divesting chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan of the office of Commissioner, State Vigilance Commission. Later, VK Jayakodi was given the post to Vigilance Commissioner, and recently Land Adminsitration Commissioner Mohan Pyare has been the job. The DMK has also challenged the appointment in court.
In 2013, the Tamil Nadu Government had banned the making, storing, distributing, and importing of Gutkha.
In November last year, tax officials organised elaborate raids across over 180 locations in Tamil Nadu targeting associates of Jayalalithaa's aie VK Sasikala, who is now in jail after having been convicted in a disproportionate assets case. As a continuation, officials on November 17 undertook what they called a "search and retrieve" mission at Veda Nilayam in Poes Garden. In the words of a senior officer involved in the mission: "We received an input that some important electronic storage devices from two rooms used by Sasikala in Veda Nilayam. So, we have gone on a limited mission and recovered a laptop, 4 pen drives and a desktop. We are not searching the entire premises."
"We got to know that some people wanted to remove them clandestinely. In that mission, we found the file[The gutkha scam document], too," a senior officer involved in the raids told ET.
In an affidavit filed with The Madras High Court, the I-T department submitted the same today in a case filed by the DMK seeking a CBI probe into the case.
Politically, the search and retrieve mission triggered some outrage among AIADMK cadre who gathered outside the bungalow of the former chief minister. Vivek Jayaraman, son of Sasikala's sister-in-law Ilavarasi, had even commented, having arrived at the residence after the raid, that it was shame that the sanctity of the house Jayalalithaa lived has been diminished.
Politics aside, the state government had also faced flak earlier for divesting chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan of the office of Commissioner, State Vigilance Commission. Later, VK Jayakodi was given the post to Vigilance Commissioner, and recently Land Adminsitration Commissioner Mohan Pyare has been the job. The DMK has also challenged the appointment in court.
In 2013, the Tamil Nadu Government had banned the making, storing, distributing, and importing of Gutkha.
