The residence of Rammohan Rao, the chief secretary of Tamil Nadu (ANI photo) The residence of Rammohan Rao, the chief secretary of Tamil Nadu (ANI photo)

The Income Tax department is conducting raids at the Chennai residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Rammohan Rao Wednesday.

“A total of 13 premises are being searched,” a senior official told news agency PTI, adding the premises connected to Rao’s son and other relatives are part of the operation. Rao was appointed the state’s top bureaucrat in June this year.

WATCH VIDEO | Income Tax Department Raids Chennai Residence Of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Rammohan Rao

DMK leader MK Stalin reacted to the raid, saying it was a ‘disgrace’ to the state.

It is being alleged that Rao had close links with Shekar Reddy, an industrialist and AIADMK functionary whose businesses and residences were raided by the IT department earlier this month. At the end of a three-day raid, IT sleuths had recovered Rs 154 crore, including Rs 34 crore currency in new Rs 2000 denomination notes and over 167 kg of gold in one of the biggest seizures post demonetisation.

The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate had joined the raid conducted at Reddy’s residences and businesses after they recovered money more than they had imagined.

The raids on Reddy had raised eyebrows within the AIADMK as he was said to be closely linked to the party. He is a member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board. In 2014, he was seen with present chief minister O Panneerselvam when the latter visited the temple as a gesture of thanksgiving after Jayalalithaa was released from the Bengaluru prison after imprisonment in the disproportionate assets case.

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