Chennai: Ahead of his ambitious state-wide padayatra, slated for Friday, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai released a video titled, DMK Files II, listing corruption charges against the DMK governments of the past and present. Primarily targeting the ruling DMK's first family, he also called on Governor RN Ravi and submitted trunk boxes containing documents to substantiate the Rs 5600 crore scams.
Unlike DMK Files I, the second part is very specific with three major scams of which the Rs 3000 crore ETL Infrastructure Services Limited fraud is the first one. The other two pertaining to the present government are the Rs 2000 crore scam in the Transport department and the Rs 600 crore one in the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC).
Digging deep into the past, Annamalai, a former IPS officer, has reopened the swindling of a whopping Rs 3000 crore through the state-owned ELCOT which started a subsidiary, ELNET Technologies Ltd (ETL), with one lakh shares, each at the value of Rs 10. One Thiagaraja Chettiar was appointed a director and allotted one share. Then, in 2004 ETL started ETL Infrastructure Services Ltd, with a total of 50,000 shares, to establish software parks. ELNET has 49,994 shares, and one share is allotted to Thiagaraja Chettiar's wife, Unnamalai, who is made the MD. The authorised share capital of the firm has been increased from Rs 10 crore to Rs 100 crore by 2005.
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Then foreign investments flowed in and in 2006, shares worth 184.5 crore were acquired by ETL Power Services Ltd, and shares for 59 crore were transferred to four firms linked to Thiagarajan Chettiar. In 2008, 2,02,50,000 shares held by ETL Power Services Ltd were transferred to a Singapore-based company, Greater India Infrastructures. Later, it acquired Rs 184 crore worth of shares of ETL Power Services Ltd and became the dominant shareholder, and share capital was increased from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 200 crore. In 2010, ETL Infrastructure Services Ltd was changed into India Green Grid Group and then IG3 Infrastructure Ltd. Now, Unnamalai, who just had one share in ETL Power Services Ltd becomes a Director of Greater India Infrastructures and the former comes under total control of Thiagarajan Chettiar's family.
The twist comes in 2011 when Greater India transfers all its shares in ETL Power Services Ltd to Aathmika Holdings, which started with a share capital of Rs one lakh but holding 11.23 shares of IG3. And in 2020, IT raids of Aathmika revealed unaccounted cash of Rs 1000 crore as reported in the media. But, in 2008 itself when the DMK was in power the issue came up when IAS officer C Umashankar who headed ELCOT, started an inquiry into it. He wanted to determine the fate of 26 acres of primeon land in the city, the present value of which is Rs 3000 crore. He was shunted out and there was no further inquiry. The video says that Stalin was the Industry minister then and it should be investigated how land allotted to ETL Power Services Ltd was allowed to pass on to private hands. Curiously, the response of ELCOT to RTI petitions is 'no available records.
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The next is the scam in the Transport Department pertaining to Reflective Tapes and Rear Marking Plates for vehicles in the state. According to the saffron leader, only a few distributors with no prior experience were allowed entry into the tender process and selected. Those selected and awarded contracts had fake addresses. The annual profit was Rs 1755 crore and money is swindled through hawala, he alleged. Another scam in the Department is the purchase of devices such as CCTV Cameras, Speed Governors for Rs 783.55 crore. A purported audio clip wherein Louis Kathiravan, a personal Assistant of Transport Minister SS Siva Sankar, is demanding commission from a collection agent.
The third one is the Rs 600 crore scam in the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) in the purchase of insecticides and pesticides for the local bodies to control the mosquito menace. According to the video, the TNMSC has awarded contracts to five firms, which had used the letterhead of Paramount Pesticides of Uttar Pradesh to secure the order. Despite Paramount Pesticides writing to the then Secretary, Local Administration, and other officials, bringing to their notice the fraud, it was not acted upon and the contracts were given to the five firms. Of the five, one in Villupuram, Sri Nadiyambal Agency has been booked by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption in June this year.
The BJP leader has demanded a thorough inquiry into these scams. Like in the case of DMK files, the DMK is expected to hit back with more libel suits.
