Property documents, digital devices seized during ED search on premises linked to Minister I. Periyasamy

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) said on Monday that it had seized documents relating to properties/investments during the recent searches at the residences of I.P. Senthil Kumar, DMK MLA and son of senior Minister I. Periyasamy; Indra, daughter of Mr. Periyasamy; and the office premises of Irulappa Mills India Pvt. Ltd., Dindigul, in which Mr. Periyasamy and his younger son P. Prabhu are directors.

In a statement, it said the search team also found certain ‘paper companies’ being operated from the premises of Irulappa Mills. The accounts of these companies were being verified. The digital devices seized were also being analysed. Further investigation was under way.

On Saturday, the ED conducted searches at multiple locations in Dindigul and Chennai linked to Mr. Periyasamy, the Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development; Mr. Senthil Kumar, the Palani MLA; and others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The investigation was initiated on the basis of a disproportionate assets case registered by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) against Mr. Periyasamy and his family.

The ED said the offences invoked in the charge sheet are scheduled offences under the PMLA. According to the charge sheet, Mr. Periyasamy and his family were in possession of assets worth ₹2 crore disproportionate to the known sources of their income. It was alleged that Mr. Periyasamy had generated these assets when he was the Minister for Revenue and Prisons.

The special court for DVAC cases in Dindigul had discharged Mr. Periyasamy and his family from the case. However, on an appeal by the DVAC, the Madras High Court set aside the discharge order in April 2025 and directed the special court to conduct the trial and complete it early. However, the Supreme Court, on August 18, stayed the trial, the ED said in the statement.