"Probe Agency Entitled To Custody": Court Setback For Jailed DMK Minister

The Madras High Court has upheld the Enforcement Directorate custody of jailed DMK leader Senthil Balaji. The court said the time spent by Mr Balaji in a hospital will be excluded from the custody period. The case has now been referred to a division bench of the high court.

Senthil Balaji, a minister in the DMK government led by Chief Minister MK Stalin, had an angiogram hours after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in early June in connection with money laundering cases.

Before his arrest, income tax officials had searched the properties of Mr Balaji's associates across Tamil Nadu after the Supreme Court allowed the ED to continue its investigation into cash-for-jobs allegations against Mr Balaji.

The ruling DMK had accused the BJP of targeting the party in panic after being unseated in Karnataka in recent assembly elections.

Mr Stalin slammed the BJP-led central government for the raids on Mr Balaji and said the party is resorting to "politics of intimidation".