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

CHENNAI: 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 a hospital in Chennai on Monday.

Balaji was taken to the government-run Stanley Medical College in Chennai early on Monday morning.

The DMK leader, lodged at the Central Prison in Puzhal was brought in for a health check-up after he developed chest pain.

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.

Senthil Balaji, after his arrest on June 14, had complained of chest pain and was subsequently taken to a government hospital in Chennai. He was later allowed by the Madras High Court on June 15 to be shifted to a private hospital of his choice and was later taken from the Tamil Nadu government’s Multi Super Speciality Hospital to Kauvery Hospital at Alwarpet.

Doctors treating him had recommended a bypass surgery. Since his second remand period was valid till July 19, Balaji was shifted to prison immediately after his discharge from the hospital.

Balaji was under the PMLA in connection with the cash-for-jobs scam in the Tamil Nadu transport department when he was the transport minister in the erstwhile AIADMK government led by the late J Jayalalithaa. (ANI)