Days after the Income Tax raids at the Christy Friedgram Industry at Namakkal, the IT sleuths on Monday knocked the doors of various premises of a highways department contractor allegedly linked to the ruling AIADMK. The raids, sources say, have unearthed over Rs.500 crore worth gold and hard cash, and several important documents have also been seized.
The I-T sleuths have been conducting raids since 7 am on the SPK Group, popularly known and SPK and Co Madurai. SPK is one of the leading, popular names in the Tamil Nadu highways sector. Properties belonging to Nagarajan Seyyadurai, managing director of SPK and Co Expressway Pvt Ltd, in more than 30 locations in Chennai, Madurai, Aruppukottai have been raided.
The firms linked to SPK Group have also come under the I-T scanner. The raids have been conducted following information to the IT department that SPK Group has been favoured in the tendering process in the highways department. There were also information about alleged tax evasion.
Confirming that I-T officials have seized cash and documents, sources said the raids will continue for a few more days at all the 30 locations. The I-T sleuths, sources say, are grilling the officials of the company, including Nagarajan Seyyadurai, on the details of the recoveries made.
Incidentally, the highways department is one of the lucrative portfolios under Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. It may be recalled that in February this year, rebel AIADMK MLAs Thanga Tamil Selvan and Vetrivel, who belong to the T.T.V. Dhinakaran camp, in an ad hoc press conference, raised questions on the highway road contract tenders. The duo took the names of Ramalingam Construction Company Limited, Venkatachalapathy and Co, Balaji Tollways and SPK and Co, Madurai. “The tender has been favoured to certain contractors who are close to EPS. They are the chief minister’s benami companies,” Vetrivel had alleged then. However, a nuisance case was filed against the two legislators for creating ruckus in front of the state secretariat. Subsequently, the DMK, in June 2018, lodged a complaint with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) alleging huge corruption to the tune of over Rs.2000 crore in the allocation of five highways project contracts . The complaint was filed by DMK’s organising secretary R.S. Bharathi.
The SPK Group bagged many of the lucrative tenders in the highways department in the last few years. According to a RTI reply sent by the Tamil Nadu road development corporation to THE WEEK, SPK and Co had bagged just three projects since 2011, worth only Rs.140 crore. The RTI reply states that SPK Group was awarded with, “Resurfacing at selected stretches from CH:24/000 to Ch:30/200 in Rajiv Gandhi Salai; Resurfacing the BT surface at selected stretches between Kandanchavadi to Karapakkam to a length of 3.70 km in Rajiv Gandhi Salai and resurfacing of the selected stretches from Madhya Kailash junction to Siruseri on both sides for a total length of 15.49 km in Rajiv Gandhi Salai, worth Rs.140.529 crores.”
However, further investigation revealed that SPK Group has also bagged several other contracts like the strengthening and widening of four lane of Tirunelveli-Sengottai-Kollam road worth Rs,720 crore, Madurai Ring Road project worth Rs. 200 crore, Four laning to six laning of Vandalur-Walajabad Road worth Rs. 200 crore and road maintenance contract in Tiruvallur, Krishnagiri, Pollachi, Virudhunagar and Ramanathapuram divisions worth Rs. 2,000 crore.
In a statement released on Monday after the raids, DMK’s working president M.K. Stalin said, “The DMK had already filed a complaint with the DVAC. The highway contacts have been awarded to just three companies who are linked to chief minister EPS.”
However the raids, earlier at Christy Friedgram Industry and now at the SPK Group have raised several eyebrows in the political circles for two reasons. Firstly, the raids at Christy Friedgram, sources say, is an indirect attack on EPS, as it is one of the most popular firms in the Kongu or the Western belt from where EPS hails. Secondly, the raids at SPK Group have exposed links between EPS and the tender discrepancies in the highways department.