TN Minister Senthil Balaji undergoes open heart surgery, reported to be stable
Four bypass grafts were placed and coronary revascularisation, procedures that restore blood flow to areas of the heart were established.
Published: 21st June 2023 11:15 AM | Last Updated: 21st June 2023 11:21 AM | A+A A-
TN Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji reacts in pain while being taken to a government hospital after his arrest in connection with a money laundering case, in Chennai. (Photo | PTI)
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji underwent heart bypass surgery on Wednesday at the Kauvery Hospital. The hospital said that the Minister is currently stable.
According to the medical bulletin, the minister underwent beating heart coronary artery bypass surgery on Wednesday morning.
Four bypass grafts were placed and coronary revascularisation, procedures that restore blood flow to areas of the heart were established.
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"He is currently hemodynamically stable and being monitored in the postoperative cardiothoracic intensive care unit by multi-disciplinary team of doctors and nurses, " the bulletin said.
Senthil Balaji was the transport minister in the AIADMK government, led by the late J Jayalalithaa, during the period 2011-15. There were complaints against him, in which it was alleged he had received huge amounts as bribes from various persons for appointing them as drivers and conductors in the transport corporations.
In connection with these allegations, three FIRs were registered against him which culminated in charge sheets filed against him and those charge sheets were now pending before a special court for the trial of criminal cases relating to MPs and MLAs.
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Since the charge sheets disclosed the commission of a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED registered the present case against Senthil Balaji and others in July 2021 and took up the investigation.
The searches also come in the wake of Home Minister Amit Shah visiting the city recently and controversy erupted over the blackout in the area which the minister claimed was accidental.
Recently, The Income Tax department conducted raids across Tamil Nadu in around 40 locations at various Government contractors' residences and offices who have alleged connections with Minister Senthil Balaji.
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During the searches, supporters of Balaji allegedly created a ruckus and even vandalised a car belonging to the Income Tax (I-T) department and manhandled officials of the department who launched coordinated searches in places across Tamil Nadu linked to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) minister.
This is the second time sleuths of a central agency have entered the state secretariat for searches.
In 2016, when O Panneerselvam was the chief minister of the state after the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Income tax Department officials conducted searches in the office of the then Chief Secretary P Ramamohana Rao.
The Supreme Court had last month allowed a police and ED probe into an alleged cash-for-jobs scam against Balaji, who also holds the Prohibition and Excise portfolio.
