Jaya inducted aide into several companies

CHENNAI: Income tax searches on the premises of jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, family members and associates are set to continue as

I-T officials are still ferreting out details

from the documents seized so far.

On Friday night, they searched parts of Jayalalithaa’s

Poes Garden

residence, especially the rooms used by her personal secretary S Poonkundran and Sasikala. Still, the room used by Jayalalithaa was not searched, said I-T officials. Poonkundran was appointed director of certain firms when Sasikala was sent out of Poes Garden in 2011. When she returned, she had him replaced.

I-T officials believe Poonkundran, who was said to be a glorified gatekeeper at Veda Nilayam, could lead them to information on businesses of Sasikala’s extended family. “Nothing transpired at

Veda Nilayam

without Poonkundran’s knowledge. He used to filter even Jayalalithaa’s appointments,” said an AIADMK source.

“We are going through the documents relating to the shell companies owned by Sasikala’s extended family and business associates. We got some leads while questioning Poonkundran. It is in this connection that we entered Jayalalithaa’s residence on Friday night. Though we searched 188 premises for 5 days, more places could be searched when we get additional information in the coming days. Veda Nilayam is the first among them,” an I-T official told TOI.

I-T officials did not respond when asked why Jayalalithaa’s residence, and her Kodanad and Siruthavur bungalows were not searched in the initial round. Sasikala had been using all these premises for years. I-T officials had dropped into the Jaya TV building adjacent to Veda Nilayam more than a week ago, but they took more than a week to enter Jayalalithaa’s residence.

“In Friday night’s search, we have seized some original documents of companies owned by Sasikala’s family members. The photocopies were seized from various other places earlier. Some photocopies were seized from a shop in Chennai, where they were dumped when searches were going on last week,” the official said.

“It was Amma who gave Poonkundran a chance to work in 3 companies in which only Sasikala family members were directors. This was to help him earn a decent salary,” said a senior AIADMK leader. But Poonkundran lived a simple life, without any flamboyance, sources said. He considered Jayalalithaa’s trust his biggest asset.