The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated searches on AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu minister Dr. C Vijayabaskar, a private educational institution, and a Chennai-based real estate group in separate cases of money laundering. The searches are being conducted at 25 different locations across the state, including Vijayabaskar’s residence in Iluppur, Pudukkottai district. These developments come amidst the AIADMK’s decision to distance itself from the NDA, despite overtures from the BJP. The raids began just before the release of the AIADMK’s second candidate list, following the release of the first candidate list a day earlier.
Official sources indicate that the ED raids at Vijayabaskar’s residence are based on an FIR filed by the state’s vigilance and anti-corruption agency (DVAC) in 2022. The FIR alleges corruption in the granting of essential certificates to a private medical college and hospital. The searches come two years after the FIR was registered by the DVAC. The ED is reportedly probing money laundering allegations linked to Vijayabaskar’s involvement with Vels medical college and hospital in Chennai, where he allegedly facilitated the acquisition of essential certificates during his tenure as health minister.
Vijayabaskar, known as a prominent figure from the Thevar community in South Tamil Nadu, served as the health minister during the previous AIADMK regime. He has faced scrutiny before, including an income tax probe in 2017 and a CBI investigation in the Gutkha scam case. Apart from Vijayabaskar and the educational institution, the ED is also investigating G Square, a real estate firm in Chennai with alleged ties to the ruling DMK party. G Square had previously undergone income tax raids in 2019 and 2023.
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