Tamil Nadu: Union govt accords sanction to prosecute former DGPs in Gutkha scam

CHENNAI: In a major development in the Gutkha scam, the Union home ministry has accorded sanction to prosecute two former DGPs -- T K Rajendran and S George.
Sources in the state home department confirmed that they were in reception of communique from the Union government.
In July last year, the state government gave a go ahead to the CBI to prosecute former ministers BV Ramana and C Vijaybaskar after the investigation agency wrote to the government. The letter seeking approval to prosecute the former DGPs was forwarded to the Union home ministry, the competent authority to give approval for prosecution of IPS officers on corruption charges.
In 2017, the income tax department sleuths unearthed a diary while searching the godown of Annamalai Industries in connection with a tax evasion cases to the tune of Rs 200. The diary created a storm both in the political and official circles as it reportedly had details of kickbacks paid by the promotors of the gutkha - AV Madhava Rao, PV Srinivasa Rao, Thallam Uma Sankar Gupta and others -
to the ministers and top police officials to continue to manufacture and distribute gutkha, a banned substance in the State.
Later, CBI registered a case as per the Madras high court directions and arrested a few including the promoters and directors of Annamalai Industries. While Enforcement Directorate also joined the investigation for money laundering, CBI wrote to the state government seeking sanction to prosecute the ministers and police officials for their alleged involvement.
The state government is likely to communicate the Union ministry's sanction to the CBI in the coming days, after which the investigation agency will begin probe into the officials.