ED attaches Rs 40 cr assets of Alagiri's son

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday attached 25 movable and immovable properties worth Rs 40.34 crore of a firm owned by former Union Minister and DMK leader M.K. Alagiri's son Alagiri Dhayanidhi in the multi-crore illegal granite quarrying scam in Madurai in Tamil Nadu.

The ED attached the properties, including lands, buildings and fixed deposits of Olympus Granites Pvt Ltd and others, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the illegal granite mining case.

The ED has initiated a probe against Olympus Granites to identify the money laundering racket on the basis of an FIR and charge sheet filed by the Tamil Nadu Police against the company, its promoters, Directors and other individuals.

Tamil Nadu Police had also charged Dayanidhi and S. Nagarajan, partners in Olympus Granites, with encroachment of government land and taking away large quantity of granite illegally without quarrying in the permitted area.

The police have lodged over 90 cases against people involved in illegal mining in Madurai district, particularly in the Melur Taluk. So far the police have filed charge sheets in over 70 cases in the Melur Magistrate court.

The ED said the charge sheets disclosed the commission of various offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Explosive Substances Act by the accused consequent to the illegal granite mining indulged in by the company.

"The company, its shareholders S. Nagarajan and Alagiri Dhayanidhi along with other accused, criminally conspired and indulged in illegal mining activities in the adjacent TAMIN leased land, thereby causing wrongful loss to the government and corresponding wrongful gain to themselves," an ED statement said.

The investigation has so far revealed that Olympus Granites and its promotees have committed a scheduled offence and derived crime by indulging in illegal quarrying and the trade proceeds of the company, said the statement, adding that further probe was on.

The multi-crore granite scam was brought to light in 2012 by the then Madurai Collector Thiru U. Sagayam, who had sent a detailed report to the government recommending thorough investigation. The state government got into action after Sagayam estimated the losses incurred from illegal granite mining at around Rs 16,000 crore.

--IANS

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