Arrested TN Minister Advised To Undergo Bypass Surgery At Earliest

Arrested Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji has undergone coronary angiogram and has been advised bypass surgery at the "earliest", the hospital treating him said on Wednesday.

Balaji "underwent coronary angiogram at 10.40 am" on June 14, 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.

The Minister was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case earlier in the day.

The arrest came hours after Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister MK Stalin criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for their alleged backdoor tactics against political rivals, the ED conducted raids on premises connected to Balaji in Chennai, Karur, and Erode as part of an ongoing investigation.

Balaji's official residence in Chennai and his office at the state secretariat were among the premises raided.

ED was expected to seek Balaji's custody after producing him before a special court later on Wednesday.

News agency PTI quoted Balaji's ministerial colleague P K Sekar Babu citing symptoms that suggested Balaji was tortured. It 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 Balaji's 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.

Allegations against Balaji trace back to his tenure as the transport minister in the previous All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government from 2011 to 2015. It is alleged that significant amounts of money, amounting to crores of rupees, were extorted from candidates in exchange for promised employment opportunities. Despite purportedly paying bribes, many candidates were not provided the promised jobs.

Following the demise of former Chief Minister J Jayalalitha in 2016, Balaji resigned from the AIADMK and subsequently joined the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party in December 2018.

In May, the Supreme Court granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) permission to continue its money laundering investigations into the alleged scam. This decision overturned a previous order by the Madras High Court in 2022.