The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, arrested Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji for alleged money laundering. He was arrested after ED questioned him for hours. Senthil, as per sources, also complained about uneasiness and was hospitalised thereafter.VIDEO | Heavy police deployment in Tamil Nadus Karur district following the late-night arrest of Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji by the ED. Karur is the home district of the minister, who has been arrested in connection with a money laundering case. pic.twitter.com/YtQW4Feq7t— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 14, 2023 The arrest was done after Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin criticised the Bhartiya Janata Partys (BJP) backdoor tactics against all its political opponents as in when ED launched raids at premises connected to Balaji. The raids were part of EDs investigation against Balaji in the Karur, Erode and Chennai parts of the country.ED was likely to seek Balajis custody after producing him before a special court later on Wednesday.VIDEO | Following his arrest by ED in the early hours of Wednesday in connection with an alleged money laundering case related to a job racket, Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji complained of chest discomfort, and was taken to the Omandurar Government Hospital in… pic.twitter.com/c2E2asEKMC— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 14, 2023 According to PTI, Balajis ministerial colleague P K Sekar Babu cited symptoms that suggested Balaji was tortured. He cited TV visuals and said Balaji was uneasy while being hospitalised.Babu told reporters that Balaji was admitted to an Intensive Care Unit. “He was in an unconscious state and did not respond when he 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 Balajis house non-stop for hours.Udhayanidhi Stalin was also among the Cabinet ministers who visited Balaji in the hospital even as central paramilitary personnel were deployed there.VIDEO | “Everybody knows that the three weapons the central government has to use against the Opposition is the Income Tax, ED and CBI,” says DMK leader RS Bharathi on ED searches against Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji. pic.twitter.com/zHdew0Ypnm— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 13, 2023 What are the allegations on BalajiThe allegations against Balaji date back to 2011-15 when he was the transport minister. He was a minister in the previous All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government. It is alleged that crores of rupees were taken from some people in return for promised jobs. Many candidates did not get jobs despite allegedly paying bribes.Balaji quit AIADMK after former chief minister J Jayalalithas death in 2016. He joined the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in December 2018. In May, the Supreme Court allowed the ED to continue its money laundering investigations in the alleged scam overruling a Madras high court order in 2022.Balaji was arrested two weeks after the income-tax (I-T) department raided over 40 places across in Tamil Nadu linked to the minister.
