Tiruchirappalli: DVAC Searches Ex-Minister K.N. Nehru's Home Again, Questions Him in Alleged Rs 634-Crore Jobs Case

Tamil Nadu's vigilance directorate searched former minister K.N. Nehru's Tiruchirappalli and Chennai premises on Thursday and questioned him for over an hour in the alleged Municipal Administration recruitment bribery case. The fresh action comes three days after the Madras High Court dismissed Nehru's review petition against the court-ordered probe, a dismissal Awaaz Punjab reported earlier this week; the allegations remain under investigation and no court has held Nehru guilty.

Awaaz Punjab Investigations Desk29 October 20264 min readRead in all 3 languages

Officials of Tamil Nadu's Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) searched the Thillai Nagar residence of former minister and DMK principal secretary K.N. Nehru in Tiruchirappalli on Thursday, October 29, and questioned him for over an hour, ANI reported. An eight-member DVAC team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Hema Chithra, with inspectors Sakthivel and Prasanna Venkatesh, conducted the search as part of the inquiry.

Source: ANI via LatestLY

The fresh searches also covered Nehru's Chennai residence and other premises linked to him, IANS reported. More than 200 DMK cadres gathered outside the Tiruchirappalli residence while the search and questioning were under way, and former minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi visited the house during the operation, according to ANI.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

Rs 634 croreAlleged recruitment bribes under investigation

2,538Municipal Administration posts named in the allegations

Rs 25-35 lakhAlleged amount sought per appointment, per ED material

30Locations searched in the earlier September 5 round

The case was registered by the DVAC in June after the Madras High Court's February 20 direction to probe material supplied by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). It concerns alleged corruption in recruitment, contract allocation and transfers in the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) Department during Nehru's tenure as its minister. The ED has alleged that about Rs 634 crore was collected as bribes for appointments to 2,538 posts, with candidates allegedly asked to pay between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 35 lakh per appointment. These are allegations under investigation, not findings of any court.

Thursday's searches follow the Madras High Court's October 26 dismissal of Nehru's petition seeking a review of the direction to register the case. Read the earlier report: High Court dismisses Nehru review plea

This is not the first round of action. On September 5, DVAC teams searched 30 locations linked to Nehru, his relatives and associates across Tiruchirappalli, Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode, and the agency reported seizing 241 documents and electronic evidence in that operation. Nehru has challenged the High Court's direction in the Supreme Court as well.

DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan alleged the government was using the vigilance action to punish Nehru for vehemently attacking it, and claimed he had been specifically targeted for his criticism, ANI reported. The High Court has clarified that directing registration of a case does not amount to a finding of guilt; investigators must still examine the material and establish whether offences occurred.

What happens next: the searches were continuing on Thursday, and an official DVAC statement on any seizures from the fresh round was awaited. Nehru's Supreme Court challenge to the probe direction also remains pending.

Sources