Senthil Balaji’s brother not detained by ED, says agency

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday clarified that RV Ashok Kumar, brother of arrested Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji hasn’t been held by the agency, as reported in media.

Dubbing the news reports of former TN minister’s brother’s arrest as fake & misleading, the investigative agency said that it has neither detained or arrested RV Ashok Kumar in any money laundering case.

“A false news report that brother of Shri Senthil Balaji (Ex-Minister and MLA) has been detained in Kochi, Kerala by ED is being reported by multiple news sources. It is clarified that Shri R V Ashok Kumar has neither been detained nor been arrested, said the agency in a statement.

The ED informed though that Ashok Kumar has been summoned on 4 occasions in the past, as part of investigation into ongoing probe. However, Ashok Kumar has till now refrained from appearing before the agency despite repeated notices. He refused to appear before ED, allegedly citing frivolous inconsequential excuses.

Ashok Kumar’s wife & mother-in-law were also summoned by the agency four times but they all declined to join the probe.

This comes in wake of multiple evidences, hinting that all three individuals could have played pivotal roles in layering and integrating the proceeds of crimes.