NEW DELHI: Chennai witnessed a fierce political showdown after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed to have unearthed irregularities within TASMAC following raids on its employees, corporate distillery offices, and production units.
While the ruling DMK administration vehemently dismissed the allegations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a demonstration on Monday outside the Chennai TASMAC headquarters, prompting heightened security deployment.
Several prominent opposition figures, including state BJP chief K. Annamalai and former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, were taken into custody by Chennai police in connection with the alleged TASMAC financial scandal.
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Annamalai was intercepted by law enforcement and, after a brief exchange of words, was taken away in a police vehicle. Soundararajan, who intended to participate in the demonstration at TASMACโs Egmore office, was prevented from stepping out by a police contingent led by Deputy Commissioner Snehapriya. Officers had been stationed outside her residence since 7 a.m., and she was later escorted into a police van.
โWe, on behalf of Tamil Nadu BJP, had announced a protest today at the Chennai TASMAC headquarters against the DMK governmentโs โน1,000 crore TASMAC corruption scandal. The DMK, shaken by fear, has placed senior BJP leader and ex-Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan under house arrest,โ Annamalai stated on X (formerly Twitter).
Meanwhile, BJP state deputy chief Karu Nagarajan was detained outside his residence, while police cordoned off the homes of multiple BJP state and district office-bearers from 7 a.m. onward to block their participation. Those attempting to leave for the protest were immediately arrested.
The detained BJP functionaries and workers were confined in marriage halls and community centers across the city.
Tamil Naduโs Excise Minister Senthil Balaji rebuffed the โน1,000 crore scam allegations, asserting that the charges lacked merit, and that the TASMAC tendering process left no scope for financial misdeeds.
โThe ED conducted searches but failed to specify the year of the FIR. They are trying to project this as if there were irregularities in TASMACโs hiring process,โ Balaji remarked.
โFor the past four years, the bartender recruitment process has been conducted entirely online. Without any evidence, they are accusing us of โน1,000 crore in misappropriation. The TASMAC tender process is transparent, and there is no possibility of malpractice,โ he added.
On March 13, the Enforcement Directorate launched a series of searches across multiple Tamil Nadu districts under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with offenses related to Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC).
In a statement on X, the ED declared, โED Chennai conducted raids on March 6, 2025, across various districts under PMLA, 2002, regarding financial offenses linked to TASMAC and associated entities/persons.โ
The search operations led to the recovery of several incriminating documents, revealing irregularities in TASMACโs financial dealings, including manipulated tenders and unaccounted cash transactions amounting to โน1,000 crore through distillery firms.
The EDโs findings suggest concrete evidence of corruption within TASMAC, confirming the existence of kickbacks in the stateโs liquor trade.
