Income tax dept finds secret letter in Jaya's house

The Income Tax department has disclosed that it was during its search operation at Veda Nilayam - where former chief minister J Jayalalithaa lived - that it discovered the Top Secret file detailing bribes to top state officials and police officers to allow sale of Gutkha.

The income tax department on Friday told the Madras high court that a confidential note — which included a copy of the sworn statement of an accused in the gutka scam about his alleged payment of Rs 56 lakh to the present health minister — written by it in the multi-crore gutka scam case, was recovered from V K Sasikala's room.

"During a search conducted by the department on November 17, 2017 in the rooms occupied by Sasikala in Veda Nilayam, a note dated September 2, 2016 signed by the then DGP addressed to the then chief minister enclosing copies of a secret letter dated August 11, 2016 addressed by then principal director of income tax department to DGP in connection with the gutkha scam was found and seized," it said.

This information was disclosed in an affidavit submitted on Friday by Principal Director of Income Tax, Chennai, Susie Babu Varghese on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by DMK MLA J Anbazhagan for a CBI probe into the alleged scam.

The I-T department's letter had been forwarded through the then DGP to the then chief minister Jayalalithaa but was found and seized from a room occupied by Sasikala when the Poes Garden property was subjected to IT raids in November of last year.

Varghese made the submissions in a PIL filed by DMK legislator J Anbazhagan seeking a CBI probe into the alleged gutkha scam.

The letter dated November 11, 2016 was addressed to both the then chief secretary and the DGP with copies of the relevant accounts from the seized materials and copies of the extracts of sworn statements recorded from a partner in a gutkha company involved in the scam, evidencing payment to various parties connected with the state government, and requesting necessary action against the persons concerned, Varghese added.