Senthil Balaji Arrest: List Of Prominent Leaders Under ED Scanner

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in Chennai in the wee hours of Wednesday.

The arrest comes after nearly 10 hours of questioning and raids at the DMK leader's premises in Chennai, Karur, and his office at the Secretariat.

Balaji's arrest also comes two weeks after the income-tax (I-T) department conducted an eight-day raid at over 40 places across Tamil Nadu linked to the minister and his supporters.

The job-for-cash scam case dates back to 2011-2015 when Balaji was the transport minister during Jayalalithaa's rule. Balaji allegedly took money from job aspirants seeking appointments in the state transport department.

With the arrest, Senthil Balaji became the first minister in the M K Stalin-led government to face such an action from a central agency. This is also the first high-profile arrest in Tamil Nadu in nearly five to six years.

While the DMK has accused the Centre of a political vendetta, the agency maintains that Balaji was arrested based on the evidence against him.

The arrest of Senthil Balaji has brought the spotlight back on the Enforcement Directorate of India. The centrally-run anti-corruption watchdog has arrested many opposition leaders in recent times. Here are a few of many such cases.

Manish Sisodia
In a major setback to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the ED arrested senior party leader Manish Sisodia on money laundering charges in connection with its probe into the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam. The agency alleged Sisodia was evasive in his replies and was not cooperating in the probe.

Satyendra Jain
AAP leader Satyendra Jain was arrested by the ED in May in relation to a money laundering case. He has been named in a prosecution chargesheet along with his wife Poonam Jain.

Sanjay Raut
In April last year, the ED arrested Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a Mumbai 'chawl'. The ED has also accused Raut of trying to tamper with the evidence and influence key witnesses.

Partha Chatterjee

In 2022, the ED arrested West Bengal Industries and Commerce Minister and senior Trinamool Congress leader, Partha Chatterjee, in connection with irregularities in recruitment to the West Bengal School Service Commission. Chattterjee had been the Minister of State Education Department when the alleged irregularities occurred.

Nawab Malik
Last year, Nawab Malik who is a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party was arrested in connection with a money laundering case linked to Dawood Ibrahim.

DK Shivakumar
In 2019, Karnataka Congress Chief D K Shivakumar was arrested by the ED over charges of alleged tax evasion and 'hawala' transactions worth crores from unexplained sources.

Prominent leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Farooq Abdullah, Ajit Pawar, Anil Purab, Karti Chidambaram have also been questioned by the ED in various cases.