Tamil Nadu mining baron paid ministers Rs 400 crore: IT Dept
- Tamil Nadu’s sand mining baron Sekhar Reddy has courted more trouble
- Earlier in December, the IT department found Rs 142 crores in cash
- Reddy is said to have deep political connections with both DMK and AIADMK
FollowTamil Nadu’s sand mining baron Sekhar Reddy has courted more trouble. Sources in the Income Tax department say that Reddy paid ministers and bureaucrats Rs 400 crores. This has been brought to the attention of the state government which is yet to launch a probe against Reddy, who is already accused of money laundering.
This latest development comes after the Enforcement Directorate attached his properties amounting to Rs 34 crores under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on Friday. A NDTV report claimed that the money for these properties belonged to Reddy’s organisation, SRS Mining Company. According to sources in the IT department, Reddy admitted that the money was unaccounted for.
Earlier in December, the IT department found Rs 142 crores in cash, which included new notes of Rs 2,000. Following this, Reddy was arrested and spent 87 days in jail. The mining baron got out after securing a bail but was arrested by the CBI days later.
According to the NDTV report, Reddy had links to many in the state government. He was closely associated with Vikram Rao, son of former Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu. Those who received huge amount of money in his payroll could be sharing the dividends made in the sand mining business, which flourished due to political patronage, the IT department said.
Reddy is said to have deep political connections with both DMK and AIADMK. The mining baron is considered to be many politicians’ aide, who has helped them with ‘investments.’ In return, he reportedly received major projects. Reddy, who started out as a small contractor, began to operate government run sand quarries in Vellore expanding his contacts in the government.
