MUMBAI: A day after India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued an order to attach properties and assets worth Rs 742.58 crore belonging to South Indian media baron Kalanidhi Maran and his brother, the former Union Telecom Minister Dayanidhi, the latter has alleged “political vendetta” and accused the ED of acting like a “puppet” in the hands of “someone.”

“ED 'flouted' rules. It shows that somebody is behind it,” he told PTI on 2 April. He also said that he will take a legal recourse and come out clean in the case.

Dayanidhi in a statement alleged that “someone was directing the ED from behind.”

He said that while it was “evident” that he had no ownership in or connections to direct to home (DTH) platform Sun Direct or South Asian FM, the professional investments in these were “distracted.”

Dayanidhi went on to add that foreign investments in a domestic company couldn’t be done without the approval of the Centre. “It cannot be but politics painting colours to such a business transaction. ED had ignored certain legal provisions in this matter,” he told PTI in Chennai on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, DMK has denied any link to the Aircel-Maxis deal case, saying it has nothing to do with Sun TV or the deal. The party however, according to the report, will be fine tuning its strategy to ensure that its campaign for the upcoming elections is not marred.

Contrary to the expectations, even after all the controversies Sun TV shares saw a hike of 3.20 per cent, closing at 453.85 up from 440.65 on 2 April.

Sun TV also has a stake in the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad and it remains to be seen if ED intervention will have an impact on the fast approaching multimillionaire league.