DVAC books former Highways Minister E.V. Velu in ‘corruption’ case; launches raids
In the first major crackdown after the TVK came to power, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) launched simultaneous searches on the premises of
In the first major crackdown after the TVK came to power, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) launched simultaneous searches on the premises of former State Highways Minister E.V. Velu, officials, and contractors in connection with an alleged corruption case. Acting on a 2022 complaint lodged by Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam, an NGO fighting corruption in Tamil Nadu, the agency booked Mr. Velu, several officials of the Highways Department, and a highways contractor on charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery, and cheating, and invoked provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The case was registered after the State government accorded permission on June 23, 2026. What are the allegations? The allegation is that several crores of rupees had been paid to contractors in various divisions of the State Highways Department in March 2022 for works that were not executed until then. This happened with the collusion of officials of the State Highways Department and a select set of highways contractors.
The complainant alleged there was rampant corruption and mismanagement of funds allocated under the Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme. In the Tiruppur circle, of the sanctioned amount of ₹4.19 crore for widening and improvement of roads, ₹3.23 crore was paid without any work actually being done. After former AIADMK Minister M.R.Vijayabhaskar gave a complaint on April 5, 2022, four officials were suspended. The action was said to have been taken on the basis of a report of the Superintending Engineer that the payment was made without laying the road. However, instead of proceeding with criminal action for the offence, Mr. Venkatesan alleged that a battalion of policemen was brought in as bandobast for the contractor to lay the roads on the night of April 8, 2022. “The Karur police, instead of acting on the criminals, are said to have provided security to them to lay roads without any disturbance.
This is a gross attempt towards erasing evidence of criminal acts committed by the officials of State Highways Department and contractor Sankaranand Infra with respect to the swindling of the exchequer’s money,” the complainant said. Arappor Iyakkam pointed to similar offences in other parts of the State and gave evidence to substantiate the same. The NGO demanded that a case be registered against all those concerned under relevant provisions of the law, and suitable action be taken. The DVAC, in its FIR, said prima facie materials in the petition revealed the accused persons had entered into a criminal conspiracy with a dishonest intention to cheat the government. Besides Mr. Velu, the agency named nine officials of the Highways Department who worked in Karur, Coimbatore, Tiruchi, and Chennai, and Sankaran Infra, the highways contractor. Searches were being conducted on the premises of the accused persons initially in Karur, Erode, and Kancheepuram districts.
The BriefWire