The Illuppur police in Pudukottai district on Monday (September 7, 2026) informed the Madras High Court that they had summoned the Alangudi Assembly constituency AIADMK candidate Dhana Vimal for an inquiry in a complaint lodged by him after reportedly giving ₹4.5 crore to former Minister C. Vijayabaskar (now in the TVK) to prove his ability to meet election expenses.
Justice V. Lakshminarayanan recorded the submission made by Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Arun Anbumani that the Illuppur police had summoned the complainant for preliminary inquiry on August 28, 2026, but he had sought time till September 10, 2026. The judge recorded the submission and directed the police to report the progress to the court by September 15, 2026.
What does the complaint say?
The submission was made during the hearing of a writ petition (criminal) filed by the complainant seeking a direction to the police to register a First Information Report (FIR). According to the petitioner, after he had sought an AIADMK ticket to contest the Alangudi Assembly constituency, Mr. Vijayabaskar had called him on the phone on November 11, 2025, and asked him to arrange for ₹5 crore to prove that he could meet the election expenses.
The complainant also claimed that Mr. Vijayabaskar, who was the then Pudukottai district secretary of the AIADMK, promised that he would return the money immediately after the declaration of candidature. Accordingly, the petitioner arranged for ₹4.5 crore through various sources and supposedly handed it over to a contractor named Sothupalai Murugesan at the latter’s office in Pudukottai on March 11, 2026.
Subsequently, after the announcement of Mr. Vimal as the AIADMK candidate in the Alangudi constituency, Mr. Vijayabaskar returned only ₹50 lakh. The rest of the money was never returned despite multiple requests, the complainant said, and alleged that he was not paid another ₹10 lakh, which was promised in return for mortgaging his father’s immovable property to another individual associated with the former Minister.
The petitioner said that he met Mr. Vijayabaskar on 14 occasions and demanded the return of his money, but it was not forthcoming at all. “The third respondent (Mr. Vijayabaskar) is now adopting a threatening and intimidating attitude whenever I demand my money and documents. The third respondent is a politically influential person and has subsequently joined the ruling party,” his affidavit read.
