Explained: Why ED Has Arrested Senthil Balaji

A land deal in which a plot estimated to be worth above Rs 25 crore was sold for Rs 10.88 lakh is believed to be at the heart of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe against Minister Senthil Balaji, reported the New Indian Express.

The plot, the area of which is 3.75 acres was in the news recently as a large palatial house is reportedly being built at a cost of over Rs 300 crore. The house was searched by Income Tax officers during their raids a few weeks back.

When questioned, Balaji had said that his family had not bought a square feet of land since 2006 and the plot belonged to his sister-in-law.

Anuradha Ramesh, the owner of the plot, had mortaged it and obtained multiple bank loans with a total value of Rs 40 crore between 2014-2021.

While the bank had estimated the land value to be Rs 9 crore in 2016, it is estimated to be worth Rs 25 crore in 2023.

The land was sold for Rs 10.88 lakh to Lakshmi, the mother-in-law of Balaji and the loans were repaid almost immediately.

While in her Income Tax returns, Lakshmi showed that she had paid for the land through sale of jewellery, the transaction with the jeweller seems suspicious.

Later, she gifted the land to her daughter, Nirmala, who is the sister-in-law of Balaji.

The main question being raised in the case is how could loans worth crores of rupees be paid off by selling the land for a measly Rs 10.88 lakh. This has led to suspicion that both Lakshmi and Nirmala are benamis and the actual owner is someone else.

With regards to the cash-for-jobs scam, the agency is said to have found deposits of unaccounted cash worth Rs 1.6 crore in the bank accounts of Balaji and his wife.

The main accused in the case are Balaji, his brother Ashok and personal assistant Shanugam.