While the counsel of former Tamil Nadu Minister MR Vijayabaskar claimed that the minister has kept everything clear in his books of accounts, the anti-corruption squad of Tamil Nadu, that conducted raids at the properties belonged to Vijayabaskar, has revealed that it has exhumed lakhs of money and several documents in connection to the allegations of corruption levelled against him. 

MR Vijayabaskar had served as the Tamil Nadu Minister of Transport during the previous Edappadi Palaniswami regime and he has been serving as the ADMK district secretary of Karur. On Thursday, the authorities of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) of the Tamil Nadu government had stormed the properties of the former minister in Chennai and Karur and conducted the searches. Around 26 places, including the properties of Vijayabaskar, had come under the scanner. 

The raids had begun at around 7 am on Thursday and lasted for over nine hours. Vijayabaskar's residence in RA Puram, Chennai was also raided by the authorities and the operation had shocked the ADMK leaders. The raid on the ADMK leader was the first since DMK's MK Stalin came to power in Tamil Nadu and the raids were conducted in connection with the allegations of corruption in the transport department while he was the minister and the allegations that he had amassed more wealth beyond his income, during his ministerial tenure. 

The officials had conducted searches in the vehicles that belong to the former ADMK Minister and the DVAC has registered a case against Vijayabaskar under the charges of disproportionate assets. While the authorities were delving into Vijayabaskar's residence in Chennai, several ADMK leaders including former ministers SP Velumani, Thangamani, CV Shanmugam, and KP Anbalagan, and hundreds of ADMK cadres in Chennai had gathered before the residence to show solidarity for the former minister. After the raid was completed at his residence, Vijayabaskar came out and greeted the leaders and cadres. 

While the party leaders had claimed that no unaccounted money was seized from Vijayabaskar's properties, the DVAC has issued an official statement concerning the raid in which the corruption watchdog has said, "A case was filed against former Tamil Nadu Transport Minister MR Vijayabaskar for amassing more wealth during his ministerial tenure in his name, and in the names of his wife Vijayalakshmi, his brother Sekhar, and in the names of the companies in which he was a shareholder. A case was filed on 21.07.2021 in the anti-corruption department in Karur under sections 13(2) r/w 13(1)(b) of the PC (Amendment) Act 2018 and 12 r/w 13(2) r/w 13(1)(b) of the PC (Amendment) Act 2018 and it has been under investigations." 

"In connection to the case, the officials of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption had conducted searches on 22.07.2021 at 26 places including the properties of MR Vijayabaskar and his relatives, the companies where he was a shareholder, and the places where people suspected to be close to Vijayabaskar were living. In this search, Rs 25,56,000 cash, and the documents related to his assets, investments in the insurance companies,  the transactions with the companies were seized. The investigation has been taking place", DVAC added in its statement.

On the other hand, the ADMK party has strongly condemned the raids and slammed the DMK government for its retaliatory actions against the opposition parties instead of concentrating on the people-welfare schemes. In a joint statement, Edappadi Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam have said the DMK government, instead of working towards fulfilling the promises made to the Tamil Nadu people, has only been taking retaliatory actions against the opposition. Particularly, the DMK government is deploying the raids to degrade the ADMK among the public.

By citing that several DMK Ministers are also facing corruption charges, the ADMK leaders claimed that the DMK government is filing fictitious cases on ADMK with the view of diverting the attention from the DMK ministers who are facing corruption charges. Panneeerselvam has urged the DMK government to refrain from the anti-democratic activities and both the leaders said, "We strongly condemn the DMK government for intimidating former minister MR Vijayabaskar under the name of conducting searches." By asserting that the ADMK will stand with and support MR Vijayabaskar, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam have said they will counter MK Stalin government's anarchy and violations legally and politically with the support of party cadres.