I-T raids DMK chief MK Stalin's son-in-law's premises

The I-T department started searches around 8 am at four places in Chennai owned by Sabareesan and his associates.

Four days ahead of Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the Income Tax department raided Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin's son-in-law Sabareesan and daughter Senthamarai's residence on Friday morning. The I-T department started searches around 8 am at four places in Chennai owned by Sabareesan and his associates.

Among the premises where searches are being conducted, is their residence in Neelangarai where there were inputs on the movement of cash related to the election campaign. Locations linked to Karthik and Bala, who are associates of Sabareesan, were also searched. Sabareesan is a key strategist in Mr Stalin's core team of DMK which is fighting elections against the ruling AIADMK.

The searches come a day after Mr Stalin's son Udhayanidhi, at a rally near Coimbatore, questioned what he called the exponential rise in the wealth of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's son Jay Shah, reported NDTV. This is second tax raid against DMK leaders ahead of Assembly polls as last month, the Income Tax department had conducted raids at over 10 locations including senior DMK leader EV Velu's residence in Tiruvannamalai, his constituency.

The searches also included a place owned by EV Velu where Mr Stalin had stayed for a night during the campaign. DMK General Secretary Duraimurugan had said that such raids would not stop them from winning the elections. The results of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections will be declared on May 2.