Overview
- The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption registered an FIR naming seven people and carried out searches at 41 locations tied to TASMAC operations, seizing documents that investigators say are central to the case.
- The complaint alleges rigged transport tenders and licence allotments, unauthorised kickbacks from distilleries, operation of unrecorded ‘ghost’ bars and claims that an extra Rs 10 was collected on each liquor bottle sold through TASMAC.
- Former Prohibition and Excise Minister V. Senthil Balaji appeared for questioning after receiving a summons and is being quizzed on more than 100 points drawn from seized material while the Supreme Court has stayed his arrest on condition that he cooperates with investigators.
- A few people have already been arrested and one person named Radesh is reported to be absconding with a lookout notice issued to trace him; the Madras High Court has asked police to file a response to a bail petition filed by an accused named Karthik.
- TASMAC is the state monopoly for retail liquor in Tamil Nadu, so the probe touches public revenue and political accountability; next steps hinge on DVAC’s document analysis, further questioning and court rulings that will shape any prosecutions and administrative reforms.