They are scared to face us in the elections: S Duraimurugan CHENNAI: Income tax officials early on Saturday seized ?10 lakh from the Katpadi residence of Vellore Lok Sabha DMK candidate Kadhir Anand, son of deputy leader of the opposition in the state assembly and DMK treasurer S Duraimurugan . Both the father and son were in the house at the time. Officials are continuing searches at a school and college owned by the family and a farmhouse owned by Kadhir’s close confidant Chakravarthy.I-T officials found ?19.5 lakh in the house. “Since Kadhir had declared ?9 lakh cash on hand in his affidavit, we seized the excess cash of ?10.5 lakh,” said an official. Searches are going on at the administrative block of the college. Some documents and electronic hardware were also seized. “In Duraimurugan’s residence, we found some printouts with ward numbers and amounts written on it. The main resident dismissed them as junk. Further questioning is on,” said the official.It all began with a call from Vellore district election officer to the I-T poll surveillance team on Friday night. “The DEO asked our officials to accompany flying squads to six locations. The teams searched three locations without any difficulty. But the DMK legal wing members refused to let us in without a warrant at Duraimurugan’s house. Finally, we entered the premises, armed with the memorandum issued by the DGP to the SPs,” the officer said.Chakravarthy, whose farm house is being searched, is into real estate business.Soon after the searches were completed at the Katpadi residence, Duraimurugan lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. “We are not afraid of the searches. We have faced Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and Emergency. They are conducting I-T searches because they are scared of facing us in the elections,” said Duraimurugan.DMK president M K Stalin, in a statement, condemned the searches and wanted I-T, ED and CBI to be brought under the Supreme Court’s direct supervision when the model code is in force. “When the central agencies, which are expected to function independently, are being controlled and managed by the ruling party, how can the Election Commission hold free and fair elections?,” he asked. He wanted the CBI, I-T and ED also to be brought under the purview of the model code during the election time. After forcing the AIADMK into an electoral alliance, the BJP was using central agencies to strangulate the DMK, he charged.

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