TN minister Senthil Balaji taken to Chennai hospital for ‘health check-up’

Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in June in connection with a money-laundering case, was taken to the government-run Stanley Medical College in Chennai early on Monday morning.

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Though no official bulletin has been released by the hospital yet, sources said the DMK leader, who is lodged at the Central Prison in Puzhal was brought in for a health check-up. 

Balaji, who currently holds no portfolio in the MK Stalin-led DMK government in the state, was seen entering the hospital in a wheelchair amid tight security.

The minister was arrested on June 14 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the cash-for-jobs scam that surfaced in 2015 in the Tamil Nadu transport department when he was the transport minister in the erstwhile AIADMK government led by the late J Jayalalithaa.

The arrest was made after an 18-hour-long interrogation and search of his official residence and chambers at the state Secretariat.

Days later, Balaji was hospitalised and underwent a bypass surgery at Chennai’s Kauvery hospital. He reportedly has a history of cardiac issues.