ED summons Ponmudi, his son to appear on Tuesday evening in money laundering case
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi and his son who left the Enforcement Directorate office in the wee hours of Tuesday have been summoned to appear this evening in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining.
After almost an overnight enquiry by the ED officials, both Ponmudi and his MP son Gautham Sigamani were allowed to go home at about 3.30 am today and asked to appear before the ED officials at 4 pm today for further enquiry, DMK spokesperson and advocate A Saravanan said.
He claimed that the Minister "cooperated well" with the central agency and wondered the necessity to put a 72-year-old Minister to an overnight ordeal merely for obtaining a statement. "Nothing would have happened if the ED officials had asked him to appear in the morning for obtain the statement," he said.
The raids were held at the premises of Ponmudy and his son in state capital Chennai and in the minister's stronghold of Villupuram.
The ruling DMK dubbed the action as "political vendetta."
The ED teams were escorted by armed personnel of the CRPF and they made some seizures of documents.
The minister is an MLA from the Tirukkoyilur Assembly seat in Villupuram district while his 49-year old son Sigamani is a Member of Parliament representing the Kallakurichi seat.
"No unaccounted cash or any incriminating documents were seized from the Minister as being claimed," Saravanan told reporters here and sought to know if the central agency has issued any press statement regarding the seizure.
"What's the logic in inquiring into a case 13 years after it was registered. This is nothing but a political vendetta by the BJP government because Ponmudi took on Governor R N Ravi on the new education policy, appointment of vice chancellors and other key issues," he added.
Tamil Nadu BJP vice president Narayanan Tirupathy, however, claimed that the Minister was not arrested as his colleague V Senthil Balaji was, because Ponmudi cooperated.
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Karnataka: Woman delivers baby on train after emergency halt in Dakshina Kannada
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): A woman travelling from Mangaluru to Mysuru delivered a baby on board a train after it was halted at a station in Dakshina Kannada district, officials said on Monday.
According to railway sources, the passenger began experiencing labour pain during the journey on Sunday. The train was stopped at B C Road station in Bantwal taluk of this district to facilitate medical assistance. However, no doctor reached the spot for over 30 minutes after the halt.
In the absence of immediate medical support, two co-passengers stepped in to assist the woman. The delivery was conducted in the train's toilet compartment. Both the mother and the newborn were reported to be safe following the delivery, they said.
Railway police officials had arranged for the woman to be shifted to a medical facility. She was admitted to the Government Lady Goschen Hospital in Mangaluru for postnatal care.
According to the OBG (Obstetrics and Gynecology) department officials at the hospital, the child and mother will be discharged after the initial observation period is over.
They told PTI that the delivery was done in trying conditions. The two ladies who carried out the operation had done a good job. The child and mother arrived at the facility 22 kilometers from the spot. Also, the mother experienced no blood loss or any other complications.
The neonate has been incubated and the mother is undergoing normal observational procedure at the hospital, the hospital officials said.
Officials said the woman is a resident of Mysuru and had been travelling home at the time of the incident.
