Girija Vaidyanathan takes charge as Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, meets CM Panneerselvam

Chennai: Senior IAS officer Girija Vaidyanathan on Friday took charge as the new Chief Secretary  of Tamil Nadu, a day after her predecessor P Rama Mohana Rao was unceremoniously removed by the state government hours after his residence and office were raided by the Income Tax (IT) officials. 

According to ANI, Vaidyanathan also went to meet Chief Minister O Panneerselvam after formally taking charge of the post.

During the 24-hour long raid at P Rama Mohana Rao's residence and office, the IT officials had reportedly recovered Rs 30 lakh cash in new notes and 5 kgs of gold besides getting "disclosure" about Rs 5 crore of unaccounted income.

Rs 96 crore in old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes was also seized, reports said.

The IT officials had raided Rao's residence on Wednesday morning. The raid ended after 24 hours.

According to IT sources, around 100 Income Tax sleuths conducted raids at the office and the residence of the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, his son Vivek and some relatives in Chennai and Chittoor in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

The raids come as a huge embarrassment for the AIADMK government and Sasikala as Rao was the to bureaucrat in the administration. He holds the additional charge of Vigilance Commissioner and the Commissioner for Administrative Reforms.

Rao was appointed to the post overlooking the seniority of several IAS officials.

The IT action came in connection with a case related to the biggest cash haul of new notes post demonetisation after the department raided some sand mining operators of Tamil Nadu here.

(With PTI inputs)