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 by Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam, an NGO fighting corruption, 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 in collusion with officials of the State Highways Department and a select set of Highways contractors.
The complainant alleged that 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 filed a complaint on April 5, 2022, four officials were suspended.
DVAC personnel at the residence of former State Highways Minister E.V. Velu in Chennai on Thursday.
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 them with security 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. It 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 faciematerials in the petition revealed that 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 Highways contractor Sankaran Infra.
The DVAC, in a statement issued on Thursday evening, said that searches were conducted at 20 places across the State, which included the residences and offices belonging to Mr. Velu.
During the searches, valuable documents, digital evidences, documents related to the Highways Department, and other incriminating documents were seized, the statement said. The DVAC said unaccounted money to the tune of ₹40 lakh was seized during the entire operation.
Mr. Velu, however, said that no money was seized from any premises belonging to him.
Among the premises searched in Karur were the house of M.C. Shankar Anand, the PWD contractor and a close friend of former Minister V. Senthilbalaji on Palaniappa Street; the house of A. Rafeeq Mohamed at Pallapatti, who works as an Assistant Divisional Engineer at the office of Chief Engineer, Planning, Design and Investigation in Chennai; and the house of S. Karthik on Chinna Andankoil street, who works as Assistant Engineer at the office of Divisional Engineer, Bridge Monitoring Unit in Tiruchi.
The officials, who were camping in Karur, dividing into small groups began simultaneous searches on the premises in the morning. The searches continued till evening. About 20 officials drawn from different units of the DVAC were involved in the searches. No outsiders were allowed to visit the houses where the searches were conducted. Policemen were posted in front of the houses, where the searches were on.
According to sources, the searches were conducted in connection with a case registered against former PWD and Highways Minister E.V. Velu and several officials of State Highways for releasing payments to the tune of Rs.3.23 crore to the Karur based Sankaranand Infra without laying roads in a few villages in Karur. Rafeeq Mohamed and Karthik were working as Assistant Divisional Engineer and Assistant Engineer, NABARD & Rural Roads in Karur when the alleged payments were released.
The DVAC also conducted searches at educational institutions linked to Mr. Velu and his residence in Kilnachipattu village near Tiruvannamalai. It said the searches began around 7.30 a.m. at Arunai Group of Educational Institutions.
Despite the searches, the educational institutions were allowed to function.
Velu will prove his innocence: Stalin
DMK president and former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said that Mr. Velu would extend full cooperation to the DVAC raid, adding that charges had never been proven in a single case filed out of political vendetta.
In a post on X, he stated: “Mr. E.V. Velu is extending his full cooperation to the raid conducted by the DVAC. He will face it legally and prove his innocence in court. History shows that when driven by a political vendetta, not a single charge has ever been proven in any case filed so far alleging corruption during the DMK regime. The DMK is not a movement that will be cowed by these threats from the ruling party. We have seen much greater oppression than this. We will face this too and emerge victorious.”
Published – June 25, 2026 11:08 am IST
