AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran has been asked to depose before ED in Delhi on April 8
Probe agency Enforcement Directorate or ED has summoned AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran this week for questioning in a money laundering case linked to alleged bribing of Election Commission officials to get the AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol for the VK Sasikala faction, officials said on Wednesday.
The move comes after the agency recently arrested jailed 'conman' and another accused in this case, Sukesh Chandrashekhar.
Both Mr Dhinakaran and Sukesh Chandrashekhar were arrested by the Delhi Police crime branch in 2017.
Officials said they have recorded the statement of Sukesh Chandrashekhar in this case early this month and now they want to question Mr Dhinakaran to take the probe forward.
The 58-year-old AMMK general secretary has been asked to depose before the agency in Delhi on April 8, they said.
His statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) once he deposes.
Sukesh Chandrashekar was arrested in April 2017 from a five star hotel by the Delhi Police for allegedly taking money from Mr Dhinakaran to bribe Election Commission officials to get the AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol for the VK Sasikala faction in a by-election to the RK Nagar assembly seat in Tamil Nadu.
Mr Dhinakaran, who was charged by the police, was also arrested by the Delhi Police after four days of questioning for allegedly attempting to bribe Election Commission officials for the symbol.
The bypoll was necessitated by the death of the then Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who represented the assembly seat.
The Election Commission had frozen the AIADMK's symbol after the two factions -- one led by Mr Dhinakaran's aunt Sasikala and the other by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam -- staked a claim to it.
Mr Dhinakaran's close aide Mallikarjuna was also arrested for allegedly facilitating a Rs 50 crore deal between him and Sukesh Chandrashekar.
Mr Dhinakaran was the treasurer of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and was expelled from the party in August 2017 along with Jayalalithaa's confidante Sasikala.
He later launched his political party called the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK).
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)