Income tax officials carried out raids at the homes and offices of former All India Anna Dravida Kazhagam minister Natham Vishwanathan and Chennai mayor Saidai Duraisamy and his son Vetri last week.
The IT teams also raided Vishwanathan’s college in Dindigul district about 400km from Chennai. 
The raids relate to an incident in April, when based on a tipoff, police found Rs40.7mn at the house of a Karur-based financier, who claimed that Vishwanathan had kept it to bribe voters during the May by-polls.
The IT officers also found documents indicating that Chennai mayor Duraisamy had misused his office for multi-billion rupee real estate deals done by his son and other relatives in Coimbatore and Chennai.

DMK politician murdered

Selvaraj, 44, the block president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), was allegedly murdered during his morning walk at the railway grounds in Villupuram, about 200km from Chennai, last week.
Selvaraj and his four friends had arrived at the ground on separate bikes and had been walking when a gang of five, also on bikes, intercepted them. They began stabbing Selvaraj even as his friends tried to shield him. Selvaraj died of multiple injuries.
The gang fled.
The incident sparked public outrage. 
In another incident, a 35-year-old financier was murdered by a six-member gang at his house in Lawspet in Puducherry. 

Petrol bomb hurled at minister

A 27-year-old man threw a plastic packet containing petrol at a public meeting presided over by Edappadi K Palanisamy, the state minister of public works department, in Jalakandapuram in Salem district.
Fortunately the packet fell on an amplifier and caught fire that was doused immediately. The accused, Kutty, was arrested even as the minister and his entourage left the stage. 
The meeting held to commemorate late chief minister and party founder Annadurai’s birth anniversary. Six men were arrested and police are ascertaining whether they were opposition party cadres.

TN Congress gets new chief

Congress leader Su Thirunavukkarasar, 66, a protégé of late chief minister M G Ramachandran, was elected as president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) on September 14.
Thirunavukkarasar began his political career in MGR’s AIADMK party and won for six consecutive terms from the Arathangi constituency in Pudukottai district from 1977. He became a minister in MGR’s cabinet in 1980 and held many portfolios until 1988. 
He also changed political parties thrice before joining the Congress in 2010. He replaces E V K S Elangovan.

Rajni’s daughter seeks divorce

Tamil superstar Rajnikanth’s second daughter Saundarya has confirmed that she has applied for divorce from her husband Ashwin Ramkumar whom she married in 2010.  The couple have a one-year-old son. 
“News about my marriage is true. We have been separated for over a year and divorce talks are on. I request all to respect my family’s privacy,” Saundarya said in a statement.
A graphic designer by profession, Saundarya is the founder of Ocher Picture Productions and has worked in movies like Kochadaiyan, Sandakozhi, Baba and Sivaji.