CBI raids TN DGP, mantri in gutka scam
New Delhi, Sept. 5: Tamil Nadu’s top police official and health minister’s premises were among 40 places raided by the CBI on Wednesday in connection with alleged sale of gutka in the state even after it was banned in 2013 by the then J. Jayalalithaa government.
This is perhaps for the first time that the the CBI raided a serving police chief of a state. For Tamil Nadu health minister C. Vijayabaskar, it was a double whammy as he is already under the scanner of the incometax department, which raided his premises last year.
It was an early morning knock at the residence of director general of police ( DGP) T. K. Rajendran, a 1984- batch IPS officer, when the CBI team presented the search warrant issued by the a special court.
In a coordinated operation which started at 7 am, CBI teams swooped down on 35 locations in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry,
Karnataka, Bengaluru and Andhra Pradesh. As the news about the raids spread, clamour for the dismissal of the health minister and the police chief started doing the rounds. The Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ( DMK), Pattali Makkal Katchi ( PMK) and the CPI( M) sought their resignations. The case pertains to illegal sale of gutka, a concoction of tobacco and pan masala which was banned in Tamil Nadu in 2013, by Jayam Industries.
On Wednesday, the CBI said, “The places searched were residential premises of the promoters/ directors of the company and other public servants including officials of sales tax department, customs and central excise, food safety and drug administration department and police officials.”
Mr Rajendran was made the DGP in 2016 after Ashok Kumar opted out for a voluntary retirement scheme ( VRS). Officials claimed that Mr Kumar, a 1982batch IPS officer, was forced to seek VRS as he had recommended for a CBI probe into the gutka scam. DMK president M. K. Stalin, in a statement, said, “The searches have brought shame on the state... Mr Vijayabaskar continuing in the Cabinet and Mr Rajendran as the head of the police department will turn out to be a blot against people’s rule and for the force known for its honesty.”