EC bribery case: Delhi Police to travel to Tamil Nadu with TTV Dinakaran

The Crime Branch team is likely to leave for Chennai tomorrow along with Dinakaran and Mallikarjuna, who were arrested last night. The police secured warrants from a city court to search the Chennai residents of Dinakaran and Mallikarjuna as part of its probe.

Police will also be confronting Dinakaran and Mallikarjuna along with the arrested middleman, Sukesh Chandrasekhar, to get the details of the money trail and the phone conversations between them.

In Chennai, police will try to recover the mobile phones through which Dinakaran used to communicate with Chandrasekhar.

Dinakaran was arrested last night following four days of questioning for allegedly attempting to bribe an unidentified Election Commission official to get the undivided AIADMK's 'two leaves' election symbol for his faction.

Police had earlier said Chandrasekhar had struck a deal for Rs 50 crore to help the AIADMK faction keep the 'two leaves' symbol. He had Rs 1.30 crore in cash in his possession when he was arrested from a five-star hotel in Delhi on April 16.

Dinakaran was arrested for arranging the amount from undisclosed sources and getting it transferred from Chennai to Delhi through illegal channels, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Madhur Verma.

Mallikarjuna was arrested for helping Dinakaran transfer this money from Chennai to Delhi, he said.

The police are verifying whether Chandrasekhar had approached any Election Commission official for getting a favourable verdict for Dinakaran’s faction.

The AIADMK (Amma) leader had come under the scanner of the police following Chandrasekhar’s arrest.

Dinakaran, who was appointed deputy general secretary by AIADMK chief VK Sasikala, has been isolated in his party amid moves to merge rival factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy K Palanisamy and his predecessor O Panneerselvam.

A powerful section of the ruling AIADMK (Amma) recently revolted against the Sasikala-Dinakaran leadership. The development came after Panneerselvam, who is leading the rival faction, demanded the ouster of Sasikala and Dinakaran as a condition for merger talks.