Team News Riveting
Chennai, June 14
Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has been remanded in judicial custody till June 28 amidst high drama that soared political temperature up in the state by DMK.
The Minister was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday by ED officials under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Soon after the arrest that came after questioning him, the Minister was admitted to Omandurar multi-specialty hospital as he complained of chest pain.
The case is linked to alleged siphoning of money during the AIADMK government led by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Balaji, then in the AIADMK, was the transport minister in the state.
Sources said he was taken to the hospital for a medical check-up by the ED after he complained of chest pain. Doctors at the Chennai hospital said the angiogram revealed a triple vessel disease. Balaji had broken down on the way to the hospital. Visuals of him weeping in the ambulance and while being wheeled into the hospital, were widely circulated.
“He is in the ICU. He was unconscious and did not respond when he called him by his name. There is a swelling near his ear, doctors say there is variation in his ECG (electrocardiogram)… these are symptoms of torture,” DMK leader PK Sekar Babu said.
Balaji’s wife has filed a petition in the Madras High Court, alleging he was arrested without any notice or summons. The court has agreed to an urgent hearing.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, who visited Balaji at the hospital, slammed the BJP-led central government. Accusing the party of “politics of intimidation”, he said the raids on Balaji were a “violation of (the country’s) federal structure”.
On Tuesday, the ED raided Balaji’s home and office at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat and the premises of his brother and a close aide in Karur district.
The Income Tax authorities had searched the properties of Balaji’s associates after the Supreme Court allowed the Enforcement Directorate to continue its investigation into cash-for-jobs allegations against him.
