New Delhi: Beleagured AIADMK leader and nephew of V.S. Sasikala, T.T.V. Dinakaran, was questioned by sleuths of the Delhi police crime branch on Saturday over his alleged attempts to bribe the Election Commission in order to get the party’s “two leaves” symbol, which had been frozen by the EC.
Mr Dinakaran flew in from Chennai on Saturday morning and arrived at the crime branch inter-state cell office in Chanakyapuri at 3 pm. The questioning began around 3.15 pm at the inter state cell office of the crime branch amid tight security.
The AIADMK leader, who was a candidate for the R.K. Nagar bypoll in Tamil Nadu, has been accused of bribing Sukesh Chandrashekhar to appropriate the “two leaves” symbol of the AIADMK. The EC had blocked the party symbol after rival factions led by K. Palaniswamy and O. Panneerselvam staked claim to it ahead of the bypoll necessitated by former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa’s death.
The two factions had also been asked to pick new party names for the R.K. Nagar bypoll. However, the bypolls have since been countermanded and the two factions are trying to work out the modalities of a merger.
Police sources said Mr Dinakaran was questioned about the money trail, his association with Mr Chandrasekar and whether he met any EC official. The probe team handed over a questionnaire to Mr Dinakaran, which contained his call records. Both Mr Dinakaran and Mr Chandrashekhar were made to sit in the same room. He was grilled for over seven hours and allowed to go at around 10.15 pm, asking him to appear before the probing team for further questioning on Sunday.
According to sources, the team has asked Dhinakaran to reappear before the investigating officers around 2 .P.M.
Mr Dinakaran’s lawyers were not allowed to accompany him during the questioning. His call details, WhatsApp messages and SMSes are also being examined, the police said. The police is also likely to collect the voice samples of both to ascertain the truth, the sources said.
Mr Chandrashekhar had reportedly tried to strike a deal of '50 crore to help the Dinakaran faction keep the “two leaves” poll symbol. The crime branch recovered approximately '1.3 crore and two luxury cars, a BMW and a Mercedes, from Mr Chandrashekhar. The Delhi police had also filed an FIR in which Mr Dinakaran was also named.
