Officials of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) launched simultaneous searches on the premises of former DMK Minister and incumbent MLA V. Senthilbalaji in Karur and his associates in other parts of the State.

Sources in the agency said the searches were conducted after a corruption case was registered against Mr. Senthilbalaji, the former Managing Director and officials of Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), and others in connection with malpractices in TASMAC.

The searches were under way at 41 places spread across Chennai, Pudukottai, Tiruvallur, Karur, Thanjavur, Coimbatore, Namakkal, Tirupur, Erode, Nilgiris, Tiruvarur, Kancheepuram, Villuppuram, and Sivaganga districts.

Mr. Senthilbalaji was the Minister for Electricity, Prohibition, and Excise in the DMK regime. In March 2025, the investigators of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) conducted searches on the premises of Mr. Senthilbalaji after registering a money laundering case.

The central agency had also summoned top TASMAC officials, including its then Managing Director and IAS officer S. Visakan, in an alleged ₹1,000-crore liquor scam.

Searches in Karur

In Karur, the ancestral home of Mr. Senthilbalaji at Rameswarapatti, the house of his personal assistant at Moorthypalayam, and the residence of a DMK union secretary at Koyampalli were among the six premises that were searched. The office of the TASMAC District Manager was also searched.

The DVAC officials, drawn from different parts of the State, began simultaneous searches in Karur at around 7 a.m. They questioned Mr. Senthilbalaji’s father Velusamy at Rameswarapatti. No outsiders were allowed to enter the premises where the DVAC officials were conducting the searches. Police personnel were posted outside these locations.