Telugu Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu Government P Rama Mohaan Rao’s residence and office have been raided by Income Tax officials. The raids have been going on since Tuesday morning in Chennai. Simultaneous raids are being conducted at 7 places belonging to Rama Mohan Rao. The Chief Secretary is suspected of having converted large amounts of cash into gold.
It may be recalled that ousted TTD Board Member Sekhar Reddy was caught by the IT officials for possessing more than a hundred crores, some of it in new denominations. It was during these raids that IT officials are said to have found some documents in the name of Rama Mohana Rao. It is in this backdrop that raids are being carried out at the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary.
Meanwhile, IT officials have arrested Sekhar Reddy and his accomplice Prem in Chennai. TheCBI court granted remand till January 3. During Reddy reportedly is a friend of Chief Secretary Rama Mohana Rao.
Rama MohanaRao, who hails from Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, is 1985 batch IAS officer. He was chosen to the coveted post, immediately after Jayalalithaa became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the second time. Rao, an MA in economics and MCom in cost accountancy, earlier served as principal secretary to Jayalalithaa. He also worked in agriculture, social welfare, housing and urban development, and industries departmen. He was also chairman of the Teachers’ Recruitment Board in Tamil Nadu and also as CMD of Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd.
Rao, who is retiring in September 2017, in the past worked as vice chairman of Gujarat Maritime Board between 2001 and 2003.He took sabbatical from IAS to pursue higher studies in United Kingdom. He did his MA in economics from the University of Manchester, UK. His mother tongue is Telugu, but he can fluently speak three other languages —English, Hindi and Tamil.
TN’s Image Tarnished: Stalin
Meanwhile, DMK leader Stalin said that the IT raids on the Chief Secretary dealt a blow to the image of Tamil Nadu. He said it was the first time in the history of TN that IT raids were conducted against the Chief Secretary of the State.
