ECI seizes cash from DMK candidate’s aide in Chennai

Several cash bundles of Rs 500 denomination were confiscated from the residence of an aide of the DMK candidate for Mylapore Assembly constituency by the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) flying squad in Chennai on Wednesday, police said.

Confirming the incident, Chennai District Election Officer J Kumaragurubaran said the matter has been forwarded to the officials concerned.

“With the assistance of the flying squad, an inspection was conducted, and necessary action has been taken,” the DEO said in a post on the social media platform ‘X’. A police official said that, along with the money seized from the Mandavelipakkam residence of Sathyamurthy, an aide of the DMK candidate Dha Velu, by the flying squad, evidence that the money was stashed to be distributed to entice the voters was also obtained.

The cash has been handed over to the Income Tax department for a detailed investigation, the police official said.

Velu is pitted against BJP candidate and former Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and TVK candidate P Venkataramanan, though there are a total of 19 candidates in the fray from this seat for the April 23 Assembly election.

BJP chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy demanded that Velu be “disqualified” from contesting the election as several crores of rupees meant for distribution have been found in one of his aide’s houses by the ECI.