The Enforcement Directorate has frozen the property in which a bungalow is being built by V. Ashok Kumar, brother of jailed Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthilbalaji, at Andankoil East on the Karur-Salem Road, in Karur.
Mr. Ashok Kumar is allegedly constructing the huge bungalow with funds from Mr. Senthilbalaji on the campus, measuring 2.49 acres, where ED officials conducted checks on Wednesday.
The property was registered in the name of Nirmala, wife of Mr. Ashok Kumar, in the documents numbered 7628 and 9645 in 2022 in the Melakarur Sub Registrar Office. It is said that the property was gifted to Ms. Nirmala by her mother Lakshmi, who reportedly purchased it from an individual by clearing a huge sum of loan availed from a city-based bank, sources said.
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In a notice served to A. Nirmala, wife of Mr. Ashok Kumar, Brijesh Beniwal, the Assistant Director of Enforcement Directorate, said that the action of freezing the property had been taken under section 17 (1-A) of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Piyush Yadav, the Joint Director of the Enforcement Directorate had authorised the action.
Mr. Beniwal had said that the property should not be transferred or otherwise dealt with the prior permission of the office of the Joint Director of Enforcement Directorate of Chennai Zonal Office.
According to sources, the ED officials, who are still camping in Karur after carrying out a search operation on Wednesday, have sent a communication to the Sub-Registrar of Mela Karur on the freezing of the property.
The ED officials had earlier served a summon to Ms. Nirmala, asking her to present at the property with all related documents by Wednesday evening. However, she did not turn up. The ED officials thereafter issued the order freezing the property.
The action comes when Mr. Senthilbalaji is subject to interrogation in Chennai after being taken into 5-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate. He was arrested in a money laundering case on June 14.
Mr. Ashok Kumar, who has been summoned repeatedly by the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department, is yet to appear before the officials.
