In the melee of accusations and counter accusations on 2G scam.M.K.Azhagiri seems to have eluded the media glare.
He has been portrayed only as a Dada of DMK in Madurai,fixer of elections by distribution of money during elections which made the election commission admit that it is difficult to stop the flow of money in elections in Tamil Nadu and one who can arm twist anyone, but none knows details of his wealth.
His current assets are more than 3500 Crores.
He has more than 20 criminal cases pending against him.
The Officers,especially Police officers used to be at his Home to serve him.
A Senior Police officer(Kumaravel) is under investigation for planning a murder for Azhagiri.
Many police personnel are reported to have abetted his activities when the DMK was in power.
Now read on.
The temple city has been Azhagiri’s fiefdom for the past 30 years. It all started with a banishment. In the early 1980s, Karunanidhi had sent Azhagiri, then a bank employee, to Madurai, also his wife Kanthi Azhagiri’s hometown. He was to run the Madurai edition of the DMK mouthpiece Murasoli but was given no say in editorial decisions. He soon lost interest and directed his energies towards other profitable ventures. On paper, Azhagiri runs a TV channel, a cable service provider (Royal Video), a wedding hall and a sari shop. But covertly, he also controls the muscle power and moneybags that run the city — the contractors, brokers and land mafia.
Azhagiri’s initial days in Madurai were not easy. Senior DMK leaders distanced themselves from him as he was Karunanidhi’s prodigal son. But he used his guile and musclemen to carve a niche for himself. Former highways minister Pasumpon T Kiruttinan used to be the one who controlled the DMK’s fortunes in the southern districts. After Kiruttinan’s murder in 2003,the coast was clear for Azhagiri. Though accused of being the main conspirator behind Kiruttinan’s murder, Azhagiri was acquitted as the prosecution could not prove his role in the crime beyond reasonable doubt.
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SINCE THEN, Azhagiri has built up a vast business empire. Though his disclosed assets stand at Rs 133.65 crore (declared after the 2009 Lok Sabha elections), his undisclosed assets and benami holdings seem to be worth more than Rs 3,500 crore (see box – ‘The cash tree’). He has invested heavily in land, film production and distribution, real estate, healthcare, mining and education in the name of his family members and close associates.
His wife Kanthi, son Dayanidhi, daughters Kayalvizhi and Anjuga Selvi, daughter- in-law Anushka and sons-in-law YK Venkatesh and Vivek Rathinavel, have a number of properties and businesses in their names. Intelligence sources claim that apart from the family-owned ventures, his trusted men control and run his business interests in Mauritius, Virgin Islands, the US, Singapore and Australia.
According to his asset declaration, Azhagiri owns 18 acres and 63 cents of agricultural land, 1 acre and 82 cents plus 23,278 sq ft non-agricultural land, a 20 cent plot, flats in Chennai and Madurai, Rs 4 crore in fixed deposit and Rs 1.39 crore in his savings account. He also declared 85 grams of gold, a Honda City car worth Rs 1.40 lakh, a Land Rover SUV worth Rs 1.20 lakh and a Rs 96 lakh investment in Dhaya Diagnostics. But his disclosure statement does not mention his assets in the MK Azhagiri Charitable Trust that runs Dhaya College of Engineering in Sivarakottai.
The trust is alleged to have violated norms while setting up the Dhaya College of Engineering on four acres of agricultural wetland in Sivarakottai on the banks of the Goundanathi river. On top of it, he is said to have grossly undervalued the worth of his properties. For example, the cost of a 1,100 sq ft flat at Raja Annamalaipuram in Chennai is declared at Rs 22 lakh, but the market price is around Rs 2.5 crore.
Similarly, Azhagiri’s wife Kanthi owns vast tracts of land in Tamil Nadu. She is the chairperson of Dhaya Cyber Park and is a trustee of the MK Azhagiri Educational Trust. Her declared assets include 48.82 acres of agricultural land, a 82.3 cent plot in Kodaikanal worth Rs 90 lakh, a 5,376 sq ft plot in Chennai worth Rs 4.30 crore, another 5,488 sq ft plot on Chamiers Road worth Rs 4.39 crore and a 3,060 sq ft plot in Pappakudi, Madurai, 4,378 sq ft Dhaya Kalyana Mahal in Madurai, 1,845 sq ft commercial property in Kottivakkam near Tambaram and a 1,320 sq ft flat in Mehtas Green Park in Madhavaram.
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