Hearing On Pleas By TN Minister Senthil Balaji ED To Continue Today

Hearing on various pleas filed by arrested Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will continue at a local court here on Thursday. While Balaji, Electricity and Prohibition and Excise Minister, had sought for interim bail and a plea to be shifted to a private hospital for further treatment, the ED had prayed for his police custody.

Balaji was arrested early on Wednesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in a cash-for-jobs scam allegedly involving him when he was the Transport Minister in the AIADMK government between 2011 and 2015.

Balaji was arrested after a long session of questioning. A local court sent him to judicial custody till June 28.

The ED 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.

The agency had launched multi-city searches in the state on Tuesday at the premises linked to the DMK's Karur strongman as part of the probe into money laundering. The action came months after the Supreme Court allowed a police and ED probe into an alleged cash for jobs scam against him.

The ED had launched searches at locations linked to Balaji at Chennai, Karur and Erode on Tuesday as part of probe into money laundering. Balaji was earlier with the AIADMK and had been Transport Minister in the late Jayalalithaa-led Cabinet.