Case politically motivated, ready to face probe: MLA

Talking to the media after the quizzing was over, Senthil Balaji alleged that the case was politically motivated and added that he was ready to appear before the investigators any time.

The Chennai city crime branch investigators had carried out searches at 17 places two weeks ago in connection with the re-investigation into the job fraud case, in which Senthil Balaji is cited as an accused. A week later, his house in Mandaveli was also searched by the sleuths.

Senthil Balaji was minister in the AIADMK regime but shifted loyalty to DMK and is currently the Aruvakurichi MLA. The case is related to the allegation that huge amounts were collected by certain persons, promising jobs as drivers and conductors in 2014 and 2015. The case was initially registered in 2015.

During the search on Friday, the CCB teams reportedly seized documents related to purchase of properties when the fraud took place. The officials also reportedly seized details of gold and vehicle purchases.

Apart from documents, the sleuths had also seized laptops, hard disks, pen drives, memory cards, cheque books and keys of bank lockers.

Based on the complaint filed by S Devashayam, the CCB registered a case in 2015. The agency started reinvestigation in November after the Madras High Court directed it to do another round of probe.