DVAC books former TN minister EV Velu over alleged lake excavation for DMK event

The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) has registered an FIR against former Tamil Nadu minister EV Velu, his son EV Kumaran, and others, alleging illegal excavation of material from the bed of Malappambadi Lake and its use to level private land for a DMK party conference.

The case was registered by DSP S Sankar of the Vellore detachment on September 24. It invokes provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended). The FIR names Velu, now the DMK MLA from Tiruvannamalai, Kumaran and “other public servants, contractors and private individuals.”

FIR details lake excavation

The complaint originated from a petition dated August 13, 2026, by T Jayaram Venkatesan, convener of the anti-corruption organisation Arappor Iyakkam. After factual verification, DVAC headquarters directed registration of the case.

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According to the FIR, the DMK Northern Zone Youth Wing Conference was held on December 14, 2025, at “Kalaignar Thidal” in Malappambadi village on 124.56 acres of land owned by M/s Arunai Products and Services Private Limited, in which Kumaran is a director. Velu organised and personally supervised the event and its logistical arrangements.

The agency states that between November 2025 and the first week of December 2025, gravel and other material were excavated from Malappambadi Lake (Survey No. 58, extent 70.65 acres) at various locations and depths without permission from the Revenue Department, the local body or the Geology and Mining Department. The material was transported by excavators and trucks and used to level the conference venue.

The FIR records that excavation covered about 12 acres, with depths of approximately 10–23 feet in places. About 45,72,058 cubic feet of lake bed sand was allegedly removed from roughly eight acres, causing an estimated loss of ₹8,22,97,044 to the government exchequer. An approach road was also allegedly expanded and laid over the tank bund and foreshore up to the entrance of the property.

Verification by Revenue and Geology and Mining officials found unauthorised pits at multiple spots inside the lake, corroborating the complaint of illegal excavation, the FIR says.

Permission and land deal

Kumaran had applied online for permission to remove clay and silt from nearby Su. Palliyampattu Lake for agricultural purposes on October 31 and November 27, 2025. The Tahsildar issued certificates allowing removal of 30 cubic metres and later 24 cubic metres. Those permissions, however, related to a water body about 750 metres from the conference land. Factual checks showed that no clay or silt was actually taken from Palliyampattu Lake.

Malappambadi Lake, which lies adjacent to the land, was not included in the District Collector’s June 19, 2024, gazette notification listing tanks from which clay, silt and gravel could be removed. The FIR notes that the excavated material was nevertheless taken from the un-notified lake.

The 124.56-acre property was purchased by Arunai Products and Services on June 12, 2024, for ₹46 crore from M/s Rishi Enterprises. Rishi Enterprises had acquired the land, formerly belonging to Arunachala Sugar Mills, through public auction for ₹38.50 crore in June 2023. Rishi Enterprises is owned by P Jeyalakshmi, wife of Pandithurai, described in the FIR as a Highways Department contractor.

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This is the second DVAC case against the former minister in 2026. In June, the agency registered an FIR over alleged irregularities in Highways Department tenders, including payments of ₹3.23 crore for road works in Karur that investigators said were not executed. Searches were then conducted at multiple locations linked to Velu.

Officials said investigation into the lake bed case would examine the roles of revenue, local body and other officials, the movement of excavated material, and the land transaction. No immediate comments were available from Velu or Kumaran.