Sukesh told Dhinakaran he will get the symbol

Sukesh Chandrasekhar, who was arrested in connection with an attempted bribery of Election Commission officials, had promised T T V Dhinakaran to use his “influence” to settle the party symbol issue in favour of the AIADMK (Amma) faction, police have claimed.

Dhinakaran, an AIADMK (Amma) leader, and Sukesh entered into a Rs 50-crore deal. A huge amount was transferred through hawala channel, with the money ultimately reaching a hawala operator in Chandni Chowk from Kochi.

Sources said around Rs 10 crore had been transferred to Delhi through hawala channels.

During the arrest, Sukesh was in possession of Rs 1.30 crore, all in denomination of new Rs 2,000 notes, investigators said. His arrest in the wee hours of Sunday came a day before the EC was likely to hear the Tamil Nadu matter, they said.

Learning that Sukesh was staying at a hotel in the national capital and was in possession of huge cash, the police raided his room and recovered the money.

According to the police report, Sukesh was impersonating a Member of Parliament and had ‘MP’ painted on the number plates of his Mercedes Benz to pull off the act.

Police also claimed they have recovered recordings of his purported telephonic conversations with Dhinakaran and a retired bureaucrat. However, they said only a forensic analysis would establish the claim.

Investigators are also verifying whether Dhinakaran first contacted Sukesh for help or whether the latter approached the leader with a promise to help the AIADMK (Amma) faction get the Two Leaves symbol.