Tamil Nadu Minister Senthilbalaji remanded to judicial custody till June 28
The Hindu
After Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate following 18 hours of investigation, dramatic scenes unfolded.
Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) early on Wednesday, was remanded to judicial custody till June 28. A bail petition moved by the Minister was posted for judgment on Thursday
On June 13, the ED conducted searches at Mr. Senthilbalaji’s official chamber in the State Secretariat, and bungalow in Chennai and other places linked to him in Karur and Coimbatore in connection with an money-laundering case. This is the first time the Central agency has entered Fort St. George, the seat of power, conducting searches in the chambers of a Minister.
After his arrest following 18 hours of investigation, dramatic scenes unfolded throughout Wednesday.
Mr. Senthilbalaji was taken in a car at 2 a.m. and admitted to the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital at Omandurar Estate in Chennai. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin met Mr. Senthilbalaji at the hospital on Wednesday morning around 10.30 a.m.
A medical bulletin from the hospital stated that Mr. Senthilbalaji, 47, underwent a coronary angiogram at 10.40 a.m. The angiogram revealed triple vessel disease, for which CABG-Bypass surgery was advised at the earliest. The sleuths of the ED had harassed Mr. Senthilbalaji to the extent that he developed chest pain, Mr. Stalin charged in a statement. “The DMK will legally face the case; we are not afraid of the intimidation tactics of the BJP. People are watching these acts of oppression, and they will teach them a befitting lesson in 2024,” he said.
A slew of State Ministers including Udhayanidhi Stalin, Ma. Subramanian, E.V. Velu, K. Ponmudy, S. Regupathy, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and Thangam Thennarasu among others visited the Omandurar hospital campus to express their solidarity. Parties belonging to the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) announced that they would stage a joint agitation in Coimbatore on Friday, June 16.
Principal district and Sessions Judge S. Alli visited Mr. Senthilbalaji at the hospital and ordered for his remand to judicial custody. Earlier, the Madras High Court agreed to urgently hear a habeas corpus petition filed by the Minister’s wife accusing the ED of not following due procedures before the arrest.
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