Delhi hawala operator held in Dinakaran bribery case

A hawala operator from old Delhi was arrested here on Friday in connection with T.T.V. Dinakaran's bribery case, police said.

Police said one more person associated with Chandni Chowk based hawala operator Naresh Jain was also detained at the airport here. He is being questioned about his role in illegal money transfer.

Jain, who was arrested from his hideout on a tip off, helped Dinakaran's middleman Sukesh Chandrashekhar in transferring money from Chennai to Delhi, police said.

"Jain helped Chandrashekhar arrange Rs 10 crore in Delhi, which was part of Dinakaran's deal," a senior police officer said.

The arrest came after the Thursday operation at Dinakaran's house and interrogation of his family members, including wife and employees, in Chennai.

Dinakaran had given a task to Chandrashekhar, seeking the 'two leaves' symbol of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) from the Election Commission (EC) with a Rs 50 crore bribe.

The crime branch earlier recovered about Rs 1.3 crore and two luxury cars, a BMW and a Mercedes, from Chandrashekhar during a raid on a south Delhi hotel.

Dinakaran was cross examined along with his 'friend' Mallikarjuna and P.A. Janardhanan, police said.

A team of crime branch is looking for all middlemen including Chennai based bureaucrats and officials of the Election Commission who were in touch with Chandrashekhar and Dinakaran in this money transfer.

A Delhi Court had sent Dinakaran to five-day police custody.

--IANS

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