Chennai | The Income Tax officials on Friday launched searches at multiple locations in Tamil Nadu linked to state minister EV Velu, the third cabinet member in the state to face the heat of the central agencies.

DMK leader and state minister Udhayanidhi Stalin alleged agencies like the I-T and Enforcement Directorate (ED) had become the BJP's political "wings" and asserted the matter would be faced legally.

Police sources said the searches were being held in different parts of the state, including Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruvannamalai and Karur.

Velu, a senior DMK leader, holds the Public Works portfolio in the MK Stalin-led cabinet.

Responding to the searches, Udhayanidhi said such action by the central agencies "keeps happening no."

While TN ministers V Senthil Balaji and K Ponmudy are under the radar of the ED, Income Tax authorities conducted searches at the premises of party MP S Jagathrakshakan last month. Balaji is in prison in connection with a money laundering case.

"This (searches) keeps happening no. There are many wings in DMK and the Congress, like the students' wing, youth wing and medical wing. Similarly, the IT and ED are the BJP's wings. They are doing their job. We will face this legally," he told reporters here.

"The activities of these wings in the last 2-3 months have been more," he added.