TTV Dhinakaran, the nephew of sidelined AIADMK leader Sasikala, on Saturday slammed the Tamil Nadu government over Income Tax raids at former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence in Chennai late on Friday evening.
Calling the move as "betrayal", Dhinakaran said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam were indulging in "vendetta politics".
"Poes Garden is a place where our beloved Amma's (Jayalalithaa) lived, it is like a temple. E Palaniswami and Panneerselvam have betrayed Amma's soul," Dhinakaran said.
He said the two leaders "will go to any extent to safeguard their positions."
He also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying that the BJP government is "trying to destroy our family using the I-T Department."
"we are not scared. Won't run away," he said.
The Income Tax sleuths had on Friday raided the premises of Veda Nilayam, the Poes Garden, the Chennai residence of late AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa.
The officials limited their search to two rooms that were used by AIADMK leader VK Sasikala and a third room used by the AIADMK matriarch’s personal secretary S Poongundran.
"We received an input that some important electronic storage devices are going to be clandestinely removed from two rooms used by Sasikala in Veda Nilayam (Jayalalithaa's residence)," a senior official said preferring anonymity.
After Jayalalithaa's death last December, Sasikala had continued living at the Poes Garden home until the Supreme Court upheld her conviction in a disproportionate assets case and sent her to jail.
Friday's raid at Poes Garden, came just days after taxmen conducted multi-day searches at premises linked to Sasikala's family and Tamil news channel Jaya TV.
Also Read: I-T crackdown on Sasikala: 5-day-long raids reveal Rs 1,430 cr tax evasion by kin, associates
According to reports, they had also searched an office of Jaya TV office adjacent to Jayalalithaa's residence, apart from the channel's main office at Ekkaduthangal.
Reacting to the development, Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar, who was stopped 500 metres away from the residence, claimed that the “illegal” search operation was a part of Sasikala and her family’s conspiracy.
"The IT did not inform us about the raids . They broke into our property . It's illegal . I am going to take legal action against them . I am the rightful heir of Jayalalithaa . It's conspiracy by Sasikala and family," Jayakumar said.
Meanwhile, AIADMK leader Apsara Reddy said that the Opposition is insecure of the growing popularity of party leader TTV Dhinakaran and jailed Sasikala.
"It's absolutely disgraceful that a state administration is cracking down a temple for all our cadres that is Jayalalithaa's home.
Without any summons, without any intimation they barged in during such odd hours in the house is very suspect. They want to crackdown the political opponents because they are insecure of the growing popularity of TTV Dhinakaran and Sasikala. We will oppose his. Even if they arrest all our cadres then it is the violation of human rights. This type of political thuggery and political goon in our state should be sent home," she said.
Jaya TV CEO Vivek Jayaraman also arrived in Poes Garden as IT raids continue.
Jayaraman said, "We are hurt today because of these IT raids. This is place where Jaya lived. This is a temple. They have taken away the letters people written Jaya."
Sasikala's supporters, who were protesting against the raids conducted by the IT department on late Friday night, were detained by the police.
