Jailed Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji has got discharged from a government hospital in Chennai during the evening hours of Monday - October 9 and he was taken back to the prison amidst a tight security. Senthil Balaji has been under the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) since June 2023 after he was arrested in a money laundering case. 

During the morning hours of Monday, Senthil Balaji was taken to Government Stanley Hospital and it has become his second hospitalization in four months. Senthil Balaji, who was then serving as the Tamil Nadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition & Excise, was later made a Minister without portfolio. He was lodged at the Central Prison, Puzhal, Chennai after getting arrested by the central agency in connection with a money laundering scam, that he allegedly committed while serving as the minister in the previous ADMK regime in Tamil Nadu. 

On June 14, 2023, hours after raids conducting at his residence, Senthil Balaji came under the scanner of ED and ahead of taking into custody, he was taken to the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital after he complained of chest pain. The DMK has alleged that ED had harassed Senthil Balaji in a fashion that he developed severe health complications. He also had undergone angiogram procedure. 

He also underwent bypass surgery at a private hospital amidst a legal battle to obtain a bail. From the beginning, the ED had strongly limited Senthil Balaji's prospects to get a bail and as the central agency has issued a lookout for Senthil Balaji's brother Ashok, who is at large, it is highly unlikely that the minister would be let go on bail. After a month of hospitalization, Senthil Balaji got discharged on July 17. 

Following his discharge, the ED took him completely under its custody and he was immediately taken to the Central Prison, Puzhal. In the midst of interrogation and his legal battle, Senthil Balaji had been monitored by the prison doctors and now, he was again taken to hospital. On Monday- October 9, Senthil Balaji was taken from the prison and was admitted to a government hospital. 

He has been admitted to hospital for the second time in four months. The visuals have shown that Senthil Balaji was taken inside the Government Stanley Hospital in a wheel chair. It was reported that he developed chest pain on Sunday and fell off from the bed during the wee hours of Monday and initially, he was treated by the doctors in the prison and after realizing that there is a strong fluctuation in his heart beat, Senthil Balaji was taken to the hospital. 

Senthil Balaji had also undergone medical check-up including vitals and blood sugar. It was reported that based on the results from the medical investigations, the prison authorities would decide whether to take him back to the prison or to keep him under medical observations in the hospital. Hours after getting admitted to the hospital, he has now been discharged and taken back to the prison.