Enforcement Directorate officials on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, sealed the private office of Minister for Electricity, Excise and Prohibition V. Senthilbalaji at Ramakrishnapuram here.
The notice was pasted on the office gate. Signed by a Deputy Director of Enforcement, the notice stated that the premises should not be opened without permission of the ED. It further said the owner of the property should report or contact the Deputy Director of the Enforcement Directorate in Chennai for further action.
The property has been the private office of Mr. Senthilbalaji and his brother V. Ashok Kumar. It was among the places where income tax officials carried out searches in Karur for eight days recently.
The notice was affixed hours before the ED officials wrapped up the searches in the house of Mr. Senthilbalaji at Rameswarapatti on the outskirts of Karur and those linked to him in Karur. The residence of his brother at Ramakrishnapuram and the house of Mani alias Subramani, managing partner of Kongu Mess, at Rayanur, were among the eight places where the ED officials carried out searches on Tuesday. The searches that began around 6 a.m. on Tuesday came to an end in the early hours of Wednesday.
Security has been tightened in and around Karur to prevent untoward incidents following the arrest of Mr. Senthibalaji. A. Saravana Sundar, Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Tiruchi Range, visited Karur and reviewed the security arrangements. He told The Hindu that policemen were posted at vantage points. The situation was normal and there were no untoward incidents in any parts of the district.
Meanwhile, four persons belonging to Theni were arrested for trying to burst crackers near the bus stand. Raising slogans in support of the Enforcement Directorate’s action against Mr. Senthilbalaji, they tried to burst crackers. The policemen, who were on patrol, prevented them from bursting crackers and picked up all of them.
