P Rama Mohana Rao was removed as Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary after tax raids at his home, office
Highlights
- Bureaucrat P Rama Mohana Rao alleges his homes 'searched at gunpoint'
- Still Chief Secretary, government doesn't have guts to transfer me: Rao
- Rao removed as Chief Secretary after tax raid at home, office last week
Senior Tamil Nadu bureaucrat P Rama Mohana Rao, who was removed as Chief Secretary after unprecedented tax raids at his home and office last week, alleged today that his life was in danger and his home had been "searched at gunpoint".
"I am still Chief Secretary. The government doesn't have guts to serve me transfer orders," Mr Rao declared in the middle of his sensational allegations.
Mr Rao was raided for two days by Income Tax officials who claimed to have found nearly 30 lakhs in cash and 5 kg of gold. His son was also raided.
A day later, Mr Rao was replaced as Chief Secretary by Girija Vaidhyanathan.
He alleged that personnel of the CRPF or Central Reserve Police Force entered his house and produced a search warrant but it was in the name of his son Vivek Papisetty, who doesn't live with him.
"They entered my house at gunpoint. The centre has no respect for the state...If honourable madam (J Jayalalithaa) had been alive, no one would dare to do this. This is constitutional assault," he said, alleging that he had been under house arrest.
Mr Rao's home in Chennai's upscale Anna Nagar and his office were searched for nearly 24 hours.
The raid team found a little over a lakh, claimed the bureaucrat, holding up what he said was a report of the raid. "They found 1 lakh 12 thousand 320 rupees only. The gold that they found was what my wife and daughter were wearing," he said.
He thanked Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for supporting him.
Mr Rao's son Vivek is accused of links with J Sekhar Reddy, a businessman arrested over alleged unaccounted money and tax evasion.
Mr Rao, handpicked by Jayalalithaa, is said to have played an important role in her close friend Sasikala Natarajan coming to the forefront after the former chief minister died earlier this month.
The ruling AIADMK backed the official. "Even Chief Minister (O Panneerselvam) didn't know about the raids," said the party's CR Saraswati.