When Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji turns ED arrest into cardiac arrest

Chennai: Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji was arrested here by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday in a cash for jobs scam case in the transport department, making the 47 year-old DMK strongman from Karur district the first member in the M K Stalin-led Cabinet to face such a central probe agency heat.

Chief Minister M K Stalin questioned the need for a long probe even after Balaji assured full cooperation to the investigation, and sought to know if such an "inhumane action" by the ED sleuths was warranted.

Balaji was part of the AIADMK during the period of crime (2014-15) and was the Transport minister then.

After his formal arrest at around 1.30 am today, the DMK leader complained of chest pain and was admitted to a government hospital, where he was advised to undergo a bypass surgery at the 'earliest.' He later moved a city court seeking permission to be shifted to a private hospital here for further treatment and also applied for interim bail.

Balaji was arrested after a long session of questioning, official sources said. A local court later sent him to judicial custody till June 28. The court also reserved orders on the minister's plea for interim bail and permission to be shifted to a private hospital, besides the ED's prayer that sought police custody of Balaji. Separately, a habeus corpus petition was filed in the Madras High Court, seeking a direction that the minister be produced before the court.

CM Stalin met his cabinet colleague at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital, Omandurar Estate here.

He questioned the need for such a long probe despite Balaji assuring full cooperation to the inquiry and asked "if such an inhumane action by the ED officials is warranted?" "The cruel intentions of those that had deployed the officials is evident from this," Stalin said.

The CM also stepped up his attack on the BJP over the ED arresting his cabinet colleague, as he asserted that the minister will face the case legally, and so will the party.

The DMK claimed that arrest-related procedures were not followed properly in the matter, which the ED denied.

The case against Balaji and his aides pertain to his tenure as the transport minister in the AIADMK government in 2011-15, when he along with his associates including his brother R V Ashok Kumar, entered into a criminal conspiracy with the managing directors of all state transport undertakings (STU) and other officers of transport corporations to obtain illegal gratification from candidates to recruit them as drivers, conductors, junior tradesmen, junior assistants, junior engineer and assistant engineer in the transport corporation during 2014-15.

The "entire appointment process was made in a fraudulent and dishonest manner" and only in accordance with the lists provided by Shanmugam, Ashok Kumar, Karthikeyan, as per the directions of Balaji, the ED alleged.

These four are alleged to have collected money from the candidates on behalf of Balaji for issuing appointment orders.

The candidates had alleged that those who paid the money neither got appointment orders nor their money back, as promised by Balaji and the three others. The ED filed a case of money laundering in 2021 to probe these allegations and its complaint is based on three Tamil Nadu Police FIRs registered during 2018 and some later years.

The federal agency's latest action comes after the Supreme Court issued an order on May 16 allowing investigation into this case by the police as well as the ED.

The agency had launched multi-city searches in the state on Tuesday on the premises linked to the DMK's Karur strongman as part of the probe into money laundering.

State Minister P K Sekar Babu claimed that there were "symptoms" that Balaji was "tortured".

"He is in the ICU. He was in an unconscious state and did not respond when we called him by his name. He is under observation...there is a swelling near his ear. Doctors say there is variation in his ECG (electrocardiogram)... these are symptoms of torture," Babu told reporters.

Balaji "underwent Coronary Angiogram at 10.40 am" today, a medical bulletin issued by the Director of the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital, Omandurar Estate, said.

"Coronory Angiogram revealed triple vessel disease, for which CABG (Coronary artery bypass graft) - Bypass Surgery is advised at the earliest," it said.

Meanwhile, the constituents of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) announced a massive public meeting in Coimbatore on Friday to protest against the BJP over the issue.

A joint statement from SPA leaders including TNCC president K S Alagiri and state secretaries of CPI and CPI (M), R Mutharasan and K Balakrishnan, respectively and VCK founder Thol Thirumavalavan slammed the "anti-people" BJP-led NDA and said it has not done anything for the people in the last nine years in office.

The BJP was attempting to scuttle the June 23 meeting of opposition parties in Bihar, held against its "communal, authoritarian politics and as a result vengeful action is being launched in various states using the probe agencies," the SPA said.

However, TN BJP chief K Annamalai dismissed any charge of vindictive action by his party against the DMK and said the ED action was a culmination of a five year probe into the cash for jobs scam.

Explaining the case details, he said the Apex court had allowed a police and ED probe into the matter recently and insisted the agency action was in line with that only.

"That being the case, how is this political vendetta? Stalin and his alliance party leaders should explain," he told reporters here.

Meanwhile, AIADMK chief K Palaniswami attacked Stalin over the raids.

Addressing media, the party general secretary recalled that the CM had called it as an insult, when Income Tax raids were held at the Secretariat in 2016, during the AIADMK regime.

"Now, ED raids have happened in the chamber of a minister in the Secretariat (on Tuesday). This is a humiliation for Tamil Nadu," he said and demanded Balaji's resignation on moral grounds.

Slamming Balaji and justifying the action against him, AIADMK senior leader and former minister D Jayakumar alleged irregularities in the handling of liquor stock and claimed illegal bars were being operated, resulting in loss to the state exchequer.

Liquor sales in Tamil Nadu is nationalised and Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) is the retailer.

Jayakumar also demanded that the ED should ascertain Balaji's health status with the help of AIIMS doctors and initiate further legal proceedings against him.