Cash-for-jobs scam: ED officials raid residence of TN minister’s assistant in Karur district

The search began at 8 am by more than five officers. ED officials have taken two bags of documents from his house

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted raids at the residence and financial office of Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji’s personal assistant Shankar in Karur district in connection with its ongoing money laundering investigation.

The search began at 8 am by more than five officers. ED officials have taken two bags of documents from his house.

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Further details on this matter are awaited.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Supreme Court reserved its order on a plea filed by Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji and his wife challenging the Madras High Court’s judgment which held legal his arrest by Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh heard the arguments from the counsels of Balaji, his wife and Enforcement Directorate and reserved the verdict.

The Madras High Court on July 14 held legal the ED’s arrest of Balaji and subsequent judicial custody granted by a lower court on money laundering charges linked to the cash-for-jobs scam. The High Court order came on the habeas corpus petition filed by Megala, wife of Senthil Balaji.

The ED had arrested Senthil Balaji last month in connection with the cash-for-jobs scam that occurred in the state’s transport department, and he continues to be a Minister without portfolio.

The ED had arrested Balaji in connection with an Enforcement Case Information Register (ECIR) filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in 2021.

The ECIR was registered on the basis of three FIRs lodged against him by the local police in 2018 for his alleged involvement in a cash-for-job case when he was the Transport Minister in Jayalalithaa’s Cabinet in 2015.