Which TN minister helped Dinakaran arrange funds to bribe EC officials?

Police sources say that the tip-off regarding a Trichy-based businessman is a major lead in the case.

A businessman from Trichy in Tamil Nadu and several Tamil Nadu ministers are under the scanner of the Delhi police after it was found that he helped T T V Dinakaran arrange money to bribe Election Commission officials. The police have not found any evidence to suggest that EC officials had been bribed, but a money trail through hawala channels is under the scanner.

The Delhi police has an audio tape containing a conversation between Dinakaran and Sukesh Chandrashekhar the conman. However, to corroborate the evidence further, the scanner is now on a Trichy-based businessman who allegedly arranged the money. It may be recalled that Dinakaran was arrested on the charge that he had through Sukesh tried bribing EC officials to bag the two leaves symbol of the AIADMK. The amount in question was Rs 50 crore. Dinakaran has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 170 and 120b and Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Police sources say that the tip-off regarding a Trichy-based businessman is a major lead in the case. He is said to have arranged the money on behalf of Dinakaran before passing it on to a hawala operator in Delhi. The hawala operator is then said to have transferred the money to Sukesh. When the police arrested Sukesh, they had found Rs 1.3 crore on him.

The police say that they would now probe the businessman. This will help establish a direct link. Several other Tamil Nadu ministers too are under the scanner. There is a suspicion that the ministers too had played a role in arranging for the money to help Dinakaran bag the two leaves symbol. The police say that it was a huge chunk of cash that had been arranged. Many TN ministers who were backing Dinakaran and wanted him to win the RK Nagar by-poll may have played a role in arranging for the money.

OneIndia News