In connection with the investigation, the sleuths from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) searched a house reportedly belonging to Dhanarajan in the posh CIT Colony in Chennai. 

According to sources, even after getting caught with evidence, the officer managed to stall the investigation by giving wrong address of the house in Chennai. He initially gave an address in Alandur, and it was only on Friday morning that the investigators managed to extract the real address from him and conducted searches. “We could not get much records from there on Friday,” said a DVAC officer. 

Dhanarajan claimed that the CIT Colony house was taken on rent, but further investigation is on to confirm this, sources added. Meanwhile, back in Ambur, the local politicians, lawyers and public who had celebrated the officers’ arrest bursting crackers in front of the DSP’s office on Thursday, continued to vent their ire against Dhanarajan. 

According to them, he did little to improve the situation in the town. “He did nothing to control the gaming clubs, cotton betting and lottery ticket sales. Instead, he was more interested in lining his pockets from the bribes that those taking sand from quarries were asked to pay,” charged Kalainathan, a local resident. 

A team from DVAC had arrested Dhanarajan on Thursday while accepting bribe from S Paneerselvam of Sanankuppam, owner of a brick kiln, who was asked to pay Rs 20,000 for each lorry of sand he and four other lorry operators transported from the quarry. 

In addition, the officer also sought a Pongal ‘bonus’ of Rs 25,000 for himself, and an additional Rs 25,000 for SI Jayaraj. Following complaints, the DVAC set up a trap for him using chemical-laced currency, and caught DSP Dhanarajan with this evidence.