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Bypass surgery advised for TN minister arrested on money laundering charges
Balaji’s official residence in Chennai and his office at the state secretariat were among the premises raided.
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday arrested Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji for alleged money laundering after questioning him for hours, people aware of the matter said. He was hospitalised after complaining of uneasiness. The hospital later said the minister had been administered a coronary angiogram and had been advised bypass surgery at the earliest.
The arrest came hours after chief minister MK Stalin slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'backdoor tactics' against its political opponents; this was after the Enforcement Directorate launched raids at premises linked to Balaji - in Tamil Nadu's Chennai, Karur and Erode on Tuesday - as part of its inquiries.
Balaji’s official residence in Chennai and his office at the state secretariat were among the premises raided. The central agency is expected to seek custody of the minister after producing him before a special court later today.
READ | ED arrests Senthil Balaji in alleged job-for-cash scam. What is the case?
TN ministers allege torture
Meanwhile, news agency Press Trust of India quoted another TN minister - PK Sekar Babu - as claiming Balaji had been tortured. He cited TV visuals and claimed Balaji complained of being 'uneasy' while being hospitalised.
Babu told reporters Balaji had been admitted to an Intensive Care Unit.
"He was in unconscious and did not respond when (we) called him by his name. He is under observation... there is swelling near his ear... doctors say there is variation in his ECG [electrocardiogram]... these are symptoms of torture."
State law minister S Reghupathy, who visited the hospital, questioned the need for raiding Balaji’s house non-stop for hours.
READ | ED arrests Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji in money laundering case
Udhayanidhi Stalin was also among the cabinet ministers who visited Balaji in the hospital even as central paramilitary personnel were deployed there.
What is the case against Balaji?
The allegations against Balaji date to 2011/15 when he was transport minister in the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led government. Crores of rupees were allegedly taken from candidates in return for jobs that were promised but never confirmed.
Balaji quit the AIADMK after former chief minister J Jayalalitha’s death in 2016 and joined the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in December 2018.
In May the Supreme Court overruled a Madras High Court order and allowed the ED to continue its money laundering investigations into the alleged scam.
Balaji was arrested two weeks after the Income Tax (I-T) Department raided over 40 places across in Tamil Nadu linked to the minister.
What did Tamil Nadu CM Stalin say?
On Tuesday, Stalin called the ED's raid at the secretariat office of Balaji a direct assault on the federal principle. "The BJP will learn it the hard way soon. The silence of people who are watching the BJP’s cheap acts of vindictive politics should not be underestimated. It is nothing but the calm before the storm of 2024 [national polls] that will sweep BJP away."
READ | Stalin's 2024 warning to BJP as TN CM meets Senthil Balaji in hospital
What has the Opposition said?
Stalin's Bengal counterpart, Mamata Banerjee, condemned the BJP’s 'political vendetta' against Tamil Nadu's DMK government and said misuse of central agencies continues while calling them unacceptable and desperate acts.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge described the raids as a form of the union government's harassment and intimidation.
READ | Congress' Kharge slams 'vendetta politics' after ED arrests TN minister
He said such gross misuse of investigative agencies against political opponents has been the hallmark of the Modi government. These tactics will not silence the Opposition and 'only reinforce its determination and resolve to continue its democratic struggle against the anti-people policies of the Modi government'.
What did Senthil Balaji say?
Balaji on Tuesday said he was on his morning walk when the raids began and added that necessary documents had been submitted to the I-T department when they conducted searches two weeks back.
'Payback' for airport lights error?
DMK leader RS Bharathi wondered whether the ED was targeting Balaji since there was a power cut for 15 minutes when union home minister Amit Shah was at the Chennai airport on June 10. He linked the raids to Shah’s visit to the state and added they have an ulterior motive.
Bharathi called the raids also a diversionary tactic since the BJP’s ally AIADMK was threatening to break the alliance.
