Hunt for Azhagiri’s son stepped up

The Tamil Nadu police have stepped up their hunt for Durai Dhayanidhi Azhagiri, son of DMK Union minister M K Azhagiri, and for evidence that would link a granite quarrying scam, allegedly running into several thousand crores, with his film production-distribution company.

A special team from Madurai police on Thursday raided Cloud Nine Movies, the company Durai started in Chennai in 2008, and searched an hour for evidence that could connect its funds to wealth allegedly sourced from the Madurai mines. "We looked for evidence to prove our suspicion that the company is funded with the proceeds of illegal mining in Madurai. We have seized some papers but they require scrutiny," said a senior police official.

A lookout notice has been issued for Durai to prevent him from travelling abroad. He had applied for anticipatory bail but a court rejected it on September 25.

On Tuesday, police summoned his brother-in-law Venkatesh, husband of Azhagiri's daughter Kayalvizhi, for possible clues about his whereabouts and for details about the granite firm Durai ran along with his partner S Nagaraj. Venkatesh, an architect, maintained through hours of questioning that he did not have the information. Police have already questioned Durai's father-in-law Seetharaman, his sister Anjuga Selvi's father-in-law Rathinavelu and other relatives, and searched premises in Chennai and Madurai, besides a farmhouse in Kodaikanal.

Durai is an engineer who took to film distribution and then production besides pursuing other business interests, including granite quarrying.

Allegations of illegal mining at Melur near Madurai have been made for years, even before Durai started his film company. The matter caught the public attention after a preliminary probe report by a former Madurai district collector, U Sagayam, was made public through the RTI Act. Sagayam, an activist-bureaucrat, was incidentally transferred soon after submitting the report a few months ago. Since the report, 57 persons including a mining baron have been arrested. Corruption cases have been filed against mining operators, their accomplices, two previous district collectors of Madurai (both served during the DMK regime) and senior mines department officials. Police have formed 16 special teams, half for arrest and half for investigation. Police are hunting for 40-50 people with look-out notices issued against some.

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