CHENNAI:
Tamil Nadu government departments continue to face the heat from the Central government investigative agencies after the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday entered into the Water Resources Department's engineer-in-Chief premises in Chepauk along with Central armed police force and took away files pertaining to sand mining operations in the state.
This is the second time a government department was searched in the last one year. Earlier this year, jailed minister Senthil Balaji’s office was searched by the Enforcement Directorate for his links in a cash for jobs scam.
Sources said that searches by the Enforcement Directorate were also conducted in 30 places, including the residences and sides of sand baron S Ramachandran and Dindigul Rathinam.
Water Resources Department officials said that the searches in the department happened to ascertain the link of Balaji to the sand mining barons. “Few files have been taken. One of the engineers was also taken for questioning,” said the official.
He also said that three quarries in Trichy and two in Chennai region were also searched. The officials at the Enforcement Directorate could not be contacted.
Dindigul based industrialist Rathinam's residence and office, situated near GTN Road in Dindigul and that of his close aide Govindan were searched. Rathinam also runs education institutions in Dindigul and Pudukottai districts. He is also into real estate.
Similarly, Ramachandran's house located in Muthupattinam village and his office located at Nijam Nagar in Pudukkottai town
The duo are part of SRS mining and were earlier arrested in December 2016 along with Sekar Reddy, who was facing investigation in a money laundering case.
According to Central agencies the duo buy the sand at cheaper rate from the government mines and do the second sales at stackyard without any receipts thus avoiding value added tax and other taxes paid to the government. A total of 400 cubic feet of sand being sold in the government mine is worth approximately Rs 1,300. However, it is learnt that sand is unofficially sold for more than Rs 10,000. The sale depends on the size of the vehicles and per load is being sold at Rs 10,000, Rs 8,000 and Rs 6,000, sand mining sources added
In Vellore, searches were carried out at the Kanthaneri Palaru River's Public Works Department (PWD) sand quarry which has been under scrutiny since its establishment in March 2021.The quarry was leased by one Karigalan and Ramachandran. Permission was for sand mining up to a depth of 3 feet over a 5-acre stretch along the adjacent river. The operational logistics involved daily sand transportation from a distant mooring line, located 2 kilometers away, utilizing a fleet of over 500 tractor and tipper lorries. The sand was stockpiled within the quarry premises and subsequently sold at the government-prescribed rate of 6,300 rupees per unit.
Allegations, however, have arisen regarding the quarry exceeding its sanctioned sand extraction limit and encroaching on several additional acres of land. Furthermore, concerns have been raised about fraudulent receipts being used to sell three units of sand for 10,000 rupees each. During the search, documents and a pen drive were seized.
The ED's investigation into the sand mining was triggered by allegations of money laundering and substantial tax evasion. It is alleged that while sand was officially sold online with an e-receipt provided at the sand mining depots, there were significant offline sales of sand that weren't consistently recorded
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