In a big crackdown on the sand mafia in Tamil Nadu, the Enforcement Directorate is carrying out searches at over 40 locations across the state.
Industrialists S Ramachandran and Dindigul Rathinam, who hold sand mining licences, are in the probe agency’s crosshairs. Durai Murugan, General Secretary of the ruling DMK, holds the mining portfolio in the MK Stalin-led state government. S Ramachandran is reportedly partner of sand mining baron Shekar Reddy. In 2016, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had also conducted searches on his premises in Pudukottai. Ramachandran was reportedly linked to ‘influential persons’ in Tamil Nadu, including politicians and bureaucrats.
