ED finds Rs 22 lakh cash, valuables from driver's house after raids against TN minister Senthil Balaji

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Senthil Balaji and others in connection with a money laundering probe, the Enforcement Directorate said on Saturday. The searches were undertaken on August 3 in Coimbatore and Karur districts of the state, covering nine locations linked to Balaji, who is currently lodged at Puzhal central jail in Chennai under judicial custody. Balaji (47) continues to be a minister without portfolio in M K Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government.

He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 14 in the money laundering case linked to the alleged cash-for-jobs scam in the state transport department. The ED said it undertook the fresh raids after it got «intelligence inputs» that Balaji's «close associate» S T Saminathan «possessed incriminating documents/proceeds of crime and was attempting to hide/transfer them». Saminathan's premises were raided and it was found that his sister-in-law Shanthi was «acting as his benami and was seen moving bags containing documents and valuables».

As a result, the agency said ED teams covered Shanthi's premises, but she was not present there. CCTV footage showed that the bags had been handed over to a driver identified as Shiva, the agency said. When Shiva's house was searched, the ED said he was not present there and had turned off his mobile phone after he got to know about the searches at Shanti's house.

«During the search at Shiva's residence, cash amounting to Rs 22 lakh and unaccounted valuables worth Rs 16.6 lakh along with unexplained property documents for 60 land parcels were found,» the ED claimed. The agency said Shanthi was a housewife and had no source of income, adding that she did not cooperate and participate in the search proceedings. The agency said the driver Shiva, in his