Months after storming into the residences of former ADMK Ministers MR Vijayabaskar and SP Velumani and conducted searches, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), the Tamil Nadu's corruption watchdog, has on Thursday raided the residence of former ADMK Minister KC Veeramani. It's the third operation of the DVAC in four months of change in the reign in the state. 

KC Veeramani had served as the Tamil Nadu Minister for Commercial Taxes in the previous Edappadi Palaniswami regime. He had contested in the Jolarpet constituency in the 2021 assembly polls and ended up the race by conceding the defeat to DMK's Devaraji in a margin of 1,091 votes. On Thursday, the DVAC sleuths had begun searches in 28 properties in Chennai and other places linked to Veeramani. The searches had come a day after the DVAC had filed a case against the former minister. 

According to reports, the Vellore unit of the DVAC had on Wednesday filed a disproportionate assets case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Veeramani. In the FIR, the DVAC had said that from April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2021, Veeramani had piled up huge wealth that wasn't appropriate to his known sources of income and the wealth was registered in his and his mother's name.

It must be noted that Chennai-based organization Arappor Iyakkam, campaigning against corruption, had filed a complaint recently to the DVAC in which it has demanded an investigation into Veeramani's pile of wealth. The reports say that the raids are being conducted in 28 places in the districts of Chennai, Krishnagiri, Thirupattur, and Tiruvannamalai. The officials have said that the former minister had acquired Rs 28 crore worth of assets that didn't have proper accounts. They had ascertained that the acquired assets were 654 per cent high from his income that he accounted in his savings in 2016. 

The FIR read, "Veeramani was involved in corrupt activities and intentionally enriched him illicitly and acquired properties and pecuniary resources in his name which are disproportionate to his known sources of income." The FIR had further alleged that Veeramani's assets had increased from Rs 25.9 crore to Rs 56.6 crore in the period between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2021. His income during his period was estimated at Rs 4.3 crore and expenses at 2.56 crore while he had savings of Rs 1.83 crore. 

This huge boom in his assets without a proper source constitutes an offence of criminal misconduct punishable under multiple sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The searches had Veeramani's residence had drawn major attention and amid the searches, the ADMK has slammed the ruling DMK regime by claiming that this raid operation is an act of retaliation. Former ADMK Minister and senior leader D Jayakumar has said that the raids at Veeramani's residence are a clear act of retaliation as the rural local body polls have been announced. The ADMK has been dubbing these raids as 'political vendetta' and claiming that the party will face them legally.