The team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) entered the Secretariat to conduct searches at the official chamber of Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji on Tuesday only after Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had left the premises.
Around 1 p.m., ED sleuths, accompanied by armed paramilitary personnel, reached the main Secretariat building and entered Mr. Senthilbalaji’s office on the first floor. It was only after a few minutes those inside the chamber and the media realised that the officials were from the ED. By then, the Chief Minister had left the Secretariat. Some senior officials were attending a virtual meeting with Collectors when the searches were under way.
In 2016, the Income Tax Department dramatically entered the Secretariat to conduct searches at the chamber of the then Chief Secretary, P.S. Rama Mohana Rao. Meanwhile, in a social media post, Mr. Stalin thanked Opposition leaders for condemning the undemocratic raid unleashed at the Secretariat by the BJP government at the Centre. “We are unfazed and undeterred, and will remain committed in our opposition to BJP’s intimidatory tactics and undemocratic raids,” he said.
