Tightening the screws on the DMK government in the alleged Rs 1000 crore liquor scam in Tamil Nadu, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) questioned the Managing Director of TASMAC, which is the sole retailer and wholesaler of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) in the state, besides carrying out fresh raids at 12 locations on Friday.

The renewed intensity of the ED in the case comes in the backdrop of the resignation of former Electricity and Prohibition and Excise Minister V Senthil Balaji and the Madras High Court dismissing the pleas of the Tamil Nadu government and that of TASMAC challenging the agency’s earlier three-day raid on Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) headquarters as illegal and unconstitutional.

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A team of ED sleuths landed at the residence of S Visakan, a promoted IAS officer and MD of TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation), at Manapakkam in Chennai in the morning for questioning in connection with the liquor scam. The focus of the ED was on the irregularities unearthed during the three-day raids from March 6 to 8 on TASMAC headquarters in Chennai, as well as on liquor manufacturers and bottling units. According to the central agency, Visakan and other senior officials of TASMAC were involved in a highly sophisticated modus operandi of payments for supply orders, tender manipulation, and overcharging at liquor outlets, among others.

Being the sole retailer of IMFL, TASMAC generates an annual revenue of approximately Rs 44,000 Crore. Apart from the allegations of illegal payments by distilleries and bottling companies, many FIRs registered against TASMAC pertain to overcharging of Rs 10 to 30 per bottle at the outlets. Following the raid in March on TASMAC headquarters and distilleries like SNJ, KALS, Shiva, SAIFL, and Accord, as well as bottling firms like Devi Bottles and Crystal Bottles, the ED claimed to have unearthed incriminating documentary evidence pertaining to inflated expenses and fabricated purchases to siphon off unaccounted cash in the multi-crore scam. This was the first time that the liquor manufacturers had been raided by the ED.

Even as the questioning of Visakan commenced, the ED carried out raids on 12 places, including the residence of film producer Akash. Sources said the ED has widened the scope of the probe by bringing into its ambit K-Smart Solutions, which has teamed up with Kerala State Electronics Corporation (KELTRON) and reportedly secured projects worth Rs 950 crore from the TN School Education Department.

The DMK has been maintaining that the ED action is politically motivated and, charged the Modi government with weaponising the central agencies to target the opposition-ruled states.