TN court extends Senthil Balaji's judicial custody till November 6

Chennai: A sessions court here on Friday extended Minister V Senthil Balaji's remand till November 6, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

Principal Sessions Judge S Alli, before whom Senthil Balaji was produced by the prosecution through video-conferencing from the Puzhal Central Prison, extended his judicial custody till November 6.

Balaji was arrested on June 14 by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to cash-for-jobs scam when he was the Transport Minister during the previous AIADMK regime.

After his arrest, he was hospitalised and underwent a bypass surgery. Later, the ED took him into its custody for interrogation and following that he was remanded in judicial custody and lodged in Puzhal jail here. His remand is being periodically extended by the court.

In the meanwhile, the ED had on August 12 filed a charge sheet, running to 3,000 pages against Balaji. The Madras High Court had on October 19 dismissed the bail petition filed by Balaji. His earlier bail applications were dismissed twice by the principal sessions court.