V Senthil Balaji, a minister and DMK politician in Tamil Nadu, sobbed while being driven to a hospital by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday morning for a medical examination. In connection with an alleged money laundering case, the minister was detained.

On Tuesday, the ED conducted a home raid before removing Mr. Balaji to be interrogated. After hours of interrogation, the minister was taken into custody this morning.

Dramatic events were taking place at a government hospital in Chennai as the investigation agency took Mr. Balaji for a medical examination following his detention. The DMK leader was spotted sobbing profusely inside an ambulance while his followers sang anti-Enforcement Directorate chants outside.

The minister was physically removed from the ambulance while he was still sobbing.

DMK MP and attorney NR Elango reported that Mr. Balaji had been moved to the hospital's intensive care unit. "Whether the ED has apprehended him is unclear. The rules for arrest have not been followed, he claimed.

"I witnessed Mr. Balaji's transfer to the intensive care unit. His health is currently being assessed by doctors. When someone claims to have been assaulted, it is protocol for the doctor to list all of the wounds and determine what happened after reviewing the report. Officially, the ED has not informed us that he has been detained, Mr. Elango continued.

According to DMK Youth Wing leader and Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, Senthil Balaji is receiving medical attention. "We would go to court over it. The BJP's threats won't succeed in intimidating the DMK into submission.

Income Tax (IT) officials recently searched Mr. Balaji's associates' homes all throughout the state. The Supreme Court had already given the Enforcement Directorate permission to carry on with its inquiry into allegations of cash-for-jobs against Mr. Balaji that date back to his time as a minister under the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK regime. The agency's probe into the alleged money laundering case had also been permitted by the Supreme Court to move further.

Following its defeat in the most recent assembly elections in Karnataka, the BJP was allegedly attacking the ruling DMK in a panic.

The chief minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, criticised the BJP-led national government for the searches of Mr. Balaji and claimed that the party is using "politics of intimidation."

The Tamil Nadu Secretariat, Mr. Balaji's home, his office there, as well as the Karur district homes of his brother and a close aide, were all raided by the ED on Tuesday. According to Chief Minister Stalin, the BJP's "politics of threatening their political rivals through backdoor tactics" will not succeed. He denounced the searches at the Secretariat.

Mr. Stalin added that a raid on the Secretariat would be against the nation's federal government.

Mr. Balaji serves as the DMK's Karur District Secretary and Minister of Electricity, Prohibition, and Excise.