The Income Tax authorities launched coordinated searches across different locations in Tamil Nadu linked to state Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji on Friday, police sources said.
The searches were being held in cities including Karur and Coimbatore, at the premises of individuals allegedly linked to the minister, sources said without elaborating.
The clash broke out in Karur when I-T officials came to search the premises of Balaji’s brother Ashok. Balaji’s supporters allegedly vandalized a car.
Close relatives of the minister and some contractors were also among those whose premises were being searched by the tax authorities.
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A senior DMK leader from Karur, Senthil Balaji, holds the Prohibition and Excise portfolio in the Tamil Nadu cabinet.
The raids are currently underway in Chennai, Karur, Coimbatore, and other places.
The raids in Tamil Nadu come a month after the I-T department conducted searches at 50 locations related to real estate firm, G Square Realtors Private Limited, in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. K Annamalai, the BJP President of Tamil Nadu released files detailing the properties owned by members of the DMK which leads the alliance governing the state in the previous month. In a statement, the company stated that all claims and allegations against it were false and baseless.
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