N. Elaiyaraja

The Chennai police have widened their investigation into the alleged attempt to poach MLAs from the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), claiming that the conspiracy aimed to lure at least 15 legislators with offers of ₹30 crore to ₹35 crore each.

Investigators alleged that intermediaries were promised ₹5 crore for every successful deal, while the prime accused, Thirunavukkarasu, was in touch with hawala operators. Further investigation is under way and more individuals are expected to be questioned.

On June 26, TVK’s Uthangarai MLA N. Elaiyaraja received a call from Thirunavukkarasu, who claimed to run an opinion-poll firm, IPDS, in Chennai. After repeatedly seeking a personal meeting, the caller allegedly offered the MLA ₹35 crore to defy the party whip during a motion against the Speaker. When he refused, the caller allegedly threatened him and his family.

Based on the MLA’s complaint, 12 persons have been arrested and remanded in judicial custody. A senior police officer said that they have collected electronic and digital evidence, CCTV footage and other materials.

The police said Thirunavukkarasu’s confession allegedly named former Minister and DMK MLA V. Senthilbalaji and his brother Ashok Kumar as being involved in the conspiracy. The confession also referred to meetings held in June at a bar, and hotels on ECR and in Guindy, where a plan was allegedly discussed to induce ruling-party MLAs. Call records and location analysis allegedly place Thirunavukkarasu and Mr. Senthilbalaji in Erode on June 25, after which Thirunavukkarasu travelled to Chennai and stayed at a hotel in Guindy.

The police arrested Thirunavukkarasu of Arumbakkam along with Naresh of Tiruchi and Thiyagarajan of Medavakkam, on July 1. On July 2, the police arrested Selvan, 54, of Pallikaranai, E.M. Srinivasan, 46, of Madambakkam, Rajesh, 43, of Chromepet, Karthik, 43, and Ramesh, 45, of Karur district. Krishnan, 29, of Usilampatti in Madurai district was arrested on July 5, while Rajasekar, 50, of Kangeyam in Tiruppur district and Sethuraj, 57, of Bengaluru were arrested on July 9. Continuing the investigation, the police arrested R. Ganesan, 41, from Usilampatti in Madurai district, on July 14.

During interrogation, the police found that one of the accused, Ganesan, 41, from Usilampatti in Madurai district, had allegedly negotiated with an aide of the TVK MLA from Usilampatti, attempting to influence the legislator to vote. The senior police officer said, “Further investigation disclosed that Thirunavukkarasu, in conspiracy with several other accused, had formulated a plan under the code name ‘Meghalaya Project’, with the objective of inducing nearly 15 TVK MLAs through illegal monetary inducements, thereby attempting to destabilise the elected government.”

“The gang also attempted to bribe the TVK MLA from Tirupattur constituency and failed in their attempt. Our investigation revealed that five hawala operators from Bengaluru, Chennai, Tiruppur were also involved in this and 200 property documents and cash were seized from the accused,” the officer said.

The police said upon examination of the documentary and digital evidence collected during the investigation, it was found that Vijayan, a TV anchor, had exchanged “objectionable” electronic communications with the arrested accused, Thirunavukkarasu, and had remained in continuous contact with him during the period of the alleged criminal conspiracy.

Mr. Vijayan appeared before the Investigating Officer for two days in response to the summons. His statement was recorded and his mobile phone seized for forensic analysis as part of the ongoing investigation.

Police sources added, “A couple of anchors from TV/YouTube are in the list of people who have knowledge about the offence and who need to be questioned.”

During the investigation, the police received credible information that an accused already arrested in the TVK MLA poaching case had deposited advance money meant for bribing TVK MLAs with Deepam Finance in Choolaimedu.

A search conducted at the finance firm on Friday led to the seizure of ₹2.82 crore in unaccounted for cash. During questioning, proprietors Karunanidhi and Saravanan allegedly admitted that the money had been entrusted to them by the arrested accused as advance funds for bribing TVK MLAs. Based on the evidence and their statements, both were arrested on Saturday.

Published - July 19, 2026 05:09 am IST