Following the seizure of Rs 7.2 crore on Monday from the house of Nagarajan in Thillai Ganga Nagar in Adambakkam, the Chennai police on Tuesday registered a case against incarcerated lottery king Santiago Martin.
The seizure indicated that Martin and his company were active in the lottery business and had been handling a lot of unaccounted cash.
Martin is currently in prison, booked under the Goondas Act in connection with a land grabbing case. The Chennai police may seek his custody after formally arresting him to seek details about the seized cash.
“We don’t think they are selling lottery tickets now in Tamil Nadu, where sale of lottery tickets is banned. But they are handling the finances here,” police sources said.
After raiding the residence of Nagarajan (52), an associate of Martin, and seizing the cash, the police also raided the house of his associate ‘Kumbakonam’ Moorthy at Anna Nagar and seized Rs 50 lakh. Though the police has arrested Nagarajan, Moorthy is still absconding.
According to sources, a rival gang had tipped off the police about the money stashed at Nagarajan’s house.
The police believe that a major share seized at Nagarajan’s house belonged to Moorthy. Following the seizure, the IT department too has started investigating.