CHENNAI: Five more people were taken into custody on Thursday by the Chennai police in connection with the attempt to bribe and poach Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA N Ilaiyaraja of Uthangarai assembly constituency by allegedly offering him Rs 35 crore to vote against the Speaker of the TN assembly. With the latest detentions, the total number of suspects in custody has risen to eight.The latest five were identified as Selvan, 54, of Pallikaranai, Srinivasan, 46, of Manapakkam, Rajesh, 43, of Hastinapuram, and Ramesh, 45, and Karthik, 43, of Karur. Police said Karthik runs Sakthi Mess in Karur and is a close associate of former minister and DMK MLA V Senthilbalaji.A police team led by Triplicane inspector Karunakaran produced the five accused before the principal sessions court on the Madras high court campus around 3pm.The court, which was yet to remand the suspects till late in the evening, examined the remand papers and additional documents submitted by the investigating officers.Police sources said the delay arose after the investigation team filed an additional memorandum mentioning the names of former minister Senthilbalaji and his brother V Ashok Kumar. The court examined the legal procedure governing the inclusion of their names before deciding on the remand request.Investigators plan to seek five-day police custody of the five to interrogate them regarding the conspiracy and ascertain whether any other TVK MLAs or ministers had also been targeted.Police sources said special teams have been despatched to Karur, Trichy and Coimbatore to trace and question Ashok Kumar and Senthilbalaji.A complaint lodged by TVK MLA N Ilaiyaraja, who alleged that he was offered 35 crore by Thirunavukkarasu to vote against the Speaker during a proposed motion in the Tamil Nadu assembly. Police arrested three accused on Wednesday and subsequently expanded the investigation based on information gathered during interrogation.
