CHENNAI/TIRUCHY: A lookout notice has been issued against former minister and DMK MLA V Senthilbalaji and his brother Ashok Kumar, even as Chennai police on Saturday served summonses on the siblings through their parents in Karur in connection with the alleged Rs 35-crore MLA poaching case.
The brothers have been directed to appear before the Triplicane police on July 6 (Monday) at 1 pm. Eight persons, including associates of Senthilbalaji, have been arrested so far in the case.
A team from the Triplicane police handed over the summonses to Senthilbalaji’s parents, Velusamy and Palaniammal, at their residence in Rameshwaram Patti, Karur. Police obtained the brothers’ signatures acknowledging receipt of the notices after earlier attempts to serve the summonses directly on them reportedly failed.
The case was registered based on a complaint by TVK’s Uthangarai MLA N Elaiyaraja to Greater Chennai Police Commissioner A Amalraj, alleging that he was offered Rs 35 crore to resign from his MLA post, defect to the DMK, and vote against the Speaker, despite being a ruling-party legislator.
According to the complaint, Thirunavukkarasu, who claimed to run a survey firm named Indian Political Democratic Strategies (IPDS), contacted Elaiyaraja with the alleged offer. When the MLA rejected it, Thirunavukkarasu allegedly threatened him and his family, prompting Elaiyaraja to seek legal action against him and those behind the conspiracy.
After the complaint, the Commissioner directed the Triplicane police to register a case and launch an investigation. Police said the initial three accused arrested on July 1 allegedly acted on behalf of Senthilbalaji and Ashok Kumar, and that a meeting linked to the alleged conspiracy was held at a star hotel in Chennai.
The special investigation team first arrested YouTuber Thirunavukkarasu from Arumbakkam, followed by Naresh from Tiruchy and Thiyagarajan from Medavakkam. During interrogation, police said the trio claimed they had acted at the behest of Senthilbalaji, Ashok Kumar and their associates. Based on the disclosures, police later arrested five more persons, including AIADMK functionary Athiban Ramesh and Karthik from Karur, taking the total number of arrests in the case to eight. Investigation is continuing.