Enforcement Directorate raids shake liquor empire in Tamil Nadu

Weeks after the Madras High Court gave a go-ahead for the investigations into Tamil Nadu government-owned liquor retailer TASMAC, the Enforcement Directorate raids on Friday seem to have shaken the huge liquor empire in Tamil Nadu. The Central agency launched an extensive search operation in more than 12 places, including the residences of TASMAC MD Visakan IAS, film producer Aakash Baskaran, SNJ distilleries and a few other government contractors linked to the alleged Rs 1,000 crore liquor scam.

The raids began at 7am with the ED officials landing at Visakan’s residence at Manapakkam near Chennai. This is the second round of high-profile searches connected to the liquor scam in the state. A bunch of printouts, torn into pieces, were recovered near Visakan’s residence. These printed papers were WhatsApp chats on TASMAC liquor procurement from distilleries, tenders floated in TASMAC and conversations with real estate companies. Following this, Visakan and his wife have been taken by the ED for questioning. Visakan was allegedly questioned in March by the ED for a long time, at his residence, with the interrogation running late into the night. Sources say the ED is looking to establish the money trail in the scam, as the agency had already identified the sources of money generated by the government-owned liquor enterprise.

In March, ED alleged that there was a scam to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore with regard to liquor procurement and bottling in connivance with the bottling units and distilleries. After the searches between March 6 and 8 in all the government offices and distilleries connected to TASMAC, the central investigating agency conducted searches separately in the bottling units and distilleries in Coimbatore and Chennai.

During the searches in March, the agency is said to have unearthed several incriminating documents indicating irregularities within TASMAC in terms of bartenders, licences, transportation of liquor from the warehouse to the retail shops, procurement processes and the barcode mismatch with the empty bottles. ED, in its statement, soon after the searches in March, called it a well-orchestrated methodology used to generate unaccounted cash and facilitate illicit payments.

Following this, the state government approached the Madras High Court, seeking a stay on the ED’s investigation into the government-owned enterprise and calling it illegal. However, the HC gave the go-ahead to the investigating agency following which the ED searches extended from TASMAC to the many high-profile individuals in the state linked to the ruling DMK. One of them is Aakash Baskaran, the producer of Dhanush’s upcoming film Idli Kadai, Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi and Silambarasan’s 49th film.

Who is Aakash Baskaran? Why is he in the ED scanner?

Aakash is under scrutiny for his alleged links to the liquor scam. Aakash’s Dawn Pictures is a new production house in the Tamil cinema industry and is involved in some major films. He is reportedly linked to the DMK's first family and also School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi. His wedding in 2024 was attended by several VVIPs from the film industry and DMK. Sources close to the ED say that Aakash, through his production company, fuelled illicit funds generated from liquor scam.

KS Smart Solutions

Apart from Aakash’s residence, the ED also searched the premises connected to KS Smart Solutions, a firm which builds automated IT solutions for various government departments. Founded in 2016, the company is reportedly owned by the sons of a few IPS officers and a political leader linked to the AIADMK. KS Smart Solutions had obtained multi-crore contracts for CCTV installations, smart city projects, smart classroom projects in the school education department and projects of several other government-owned departments including Aavin, Commissionerate of Municipal Administration and others in the present DMK and the erstwhile AIADMK regime.

The agency is already said to have investigated a private advertising agency linked to these companies and questioned one of its partners for over a week.

The ED is also investigating a few private individuals allegedly linked to the TASMAC scam. The agency reached the residence of a VVIP close to the DMK's first family at MRC Nagar, a swanky neighbourhood in Chennai. Sources say the VVIP was not available at his residence when the ED reached there. However, his role in the liquor scam is yet to be ascertained.

The agency got into searches in TASMAC in March based on multiple FIRs registered by the state’s Department of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) in the past decade and launched its investigation under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Based on the multiple FIRs, sources say the ED has been investigating kickbacks and illicit payments made by liquor manufacturers and bottling units to political parties. 

India