KN Nehru case: DMK slams ED raids as 'political vendetta'

The DMK has slammed the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) recent raids on properties linked to Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru, labelling them a politically motivated attack by the BJP-led Union government.

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In a statement, DMK’s legal wing secretary and Rajya Sabha MP NR Elango accused the ED of acting as a “puppet” of the BJP, which is using central agencies as weapons to target Opposition parties and state governments that challenge its ideology.

No new evidence

Elango dismissed the ED’s actions as baseless, asserting that the loan in question had been fully repaid with interest. He highlighted that the Madras High Court had previously stayed the CBI’s investigation into the same case, citing a lack of prima facie evidence. “The ED’s sudden revival of a decade-old case, without any new evidence, is an attempt to malign the DMK government,” Elango said, questioning the timing of the raids, which come nearly four years after the CBI’s initial probe.

The DMK’s legal wing chief further accused the ED of fabricating claims about irregularities in the Municipal Administration Department, which Nehru oversees. “There is no FIR, chargesheet, or pending case against the department. The ED has no jurisdiction to investigate it,” Elango stated, calling the agency’s allegations of illegal financial transactions “a story spun out of thin air.”

He suggested the raids were an attempt to appease the BJP’s new political allies and distract from the DMK’s principled opposition to the National Education Policy and delimitation exercise. The raids sparked protests from DMK supporters who gathered outside Nehru’s Trichy residence, alleging political vendetta.

Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Regupathy echoed Elango’s sentiments, branding the ED as a “non-political ally” of the BJP, akin to coalition partners like the TDP and JD(U). “The BJP is rattled by the DMK’s growing influence and is resorting to such tactics to tarnish our image,” he told reporters.

Deep-rooted nexus: ED

On the other hand, the ED stated that its searches on April 7, 2025, at multiple locations linked to KN Nehru, his brother K.N. Ravichandran, and the TVH Group uncovered evidence of a “deep-rooted and systemic corruption network” within the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) Department.

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The ED also alleged a broader financial and administrative cartel operating across Tamil Nadu, involving pre-fixed commissions for tenders, rigged procurement processes, and a nexus of officials, middlemen, and politically linked individuals. The agency specifically pointed to evidence suggesting the involvement of key individuals, including Lok Sabha MP Arun Nehru, in these activities. The searches also unearthed corruption in MAWS officials’ transfers and postings.

The searches were part of a money laundering probe tied to a ₹22 crore bank fraud case involving Truedom EPC Limited, where Ravichandran is a director. The case stems from a 2021 CBI FIR based on a complaint by the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), alleging fraudulent diversion of a ₹30 crore loan disbursed in 2013.