DMK leader and former Tamil Nadu minister V. Senthil Balaji comes out of Puzhal Central Prison, September 26, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: Hours after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a money laundering case, former Tamil Nadu minister and DMK leader V Senthil Balaji was released from the Puzhal prison here on Thursday.
The bail order ended his 471-day incarceration, as Balaji was arrested on June 14, 2023 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a cash-for-jobs scam when he was the Transport minister in an earlier AIADMK regime.
While his multiple bail pleas were rejected by a local court in Chennai and the Madras High Court during this period, the apex court granted him the relief on Thursday, while putting onerous bail conditions.
DMK Organising Secretary R S Bharathi and other party functionaries received Balaji when he walked out of the prison to a rapturous welcome by his supporters, who had thronged in huge numbers to receive him.
They showered flower petals on Balaji and raised slogans hailing him.