CHENNAI, JULY 18
Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi was on Tuesday released from the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after eight-hour-long interrogation. However, the Minister will again have to appear before the ED sleuths for questioning at 4 pm on Tuesday.
The senior DMK leader was taken into custody on Monday for questioning in a case related to the sanctioning of quarry licenses to his son and few others illegally during 2006-2011 when he was the Minister for Mines.
- Stalin dials Ponmudy; assures DMK’s backing to take on BJP’s ‘political vendetta’
- Off late, Ponmudy has been the most vociferous minister opposing Governor RN Ravi
Ponmudy was taken in his own official car to the ED office for interrogation. Sources say around 120 questions were put to Ponmudy during the searches and has been taken for further interrogation. The father-son duo has been asked to give statements before the officials in the ED office at Sastri Bhavan in Chennai, sources said. According to sources, several incriminating documents and foreign currency were seized during the searches. Sources in the know of the developments say that Ponmudy is likely to be arrested and taken into custody for further investigation.
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Off late, Ponmudy has been the most vociferous minister opposing Governor RN Ravi. Be it Governor Ravi’s comments on the New Education policy (NEP) or his actions in the university as chancellor were criticised by Ponmudy every now and then.
— RS Bharathi (@RSBharathiDMK) July 17, 2023
“This is politically motivated. The searches were conducted and Ponmudy has been taken for interrogation only because our leader has been working for opposition unity. This is nothing but political vendetta,” says RS Bharathi, Rajya Sabha MP and DMK’s organising secretary.
DMK spokesperson Sarvanan called the eight-hour-long interrogation as an ‘utter violation of human rights.’ He said “It is a 2007 case. They are saying that if he is not interrogated today evidence will be lost. Whom are they trying to joke? It is a fraud played on the human rights of this country. He is a 72-year-old man. He is already under medication. This is an utter violation of human rights.”
Moreover, Ponmudi faced ED for nearly 22 hours. “From 7 am yesterday until 3:30, almost 22 hours. Imagine the torture the Minister had undergone,” said the spokesperson.
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Previously, in June, after minister V Senthil Balaji was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Tamil Nadu minister Ponmudi called the custody as a ‘revengeful act’. He also claimed that the centre is using ED against ministers of those states where there is a non-BJP government. Senthil was taken into custody by the ED in connection with an alleged money laundering case.
Stalin dials Ponmudy; assures DMK’s backing to take on BJP’s ‘political vendetta’
DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday spoke to his cabinet colleague K Ponmudy, being probed by the Enforcement Directorate and assured him the ruling party’s total support in countering the BJP’s “political vendetta.”
Stalin, president of the ruling DMK, spoke to Ponmudy over the phone and sought details of the ED probe, an official release here said.
He asked Ponmudy to face it bravely and legally.
“The chief minister told Ponmudy the party (DMK) will support (him) morally, politically and legally to oppose and break the political vendetta of the Union BJP government,” it added.
