Former DMK minister and Coimbatore South MLA V. Senthil Balaji has landed in fresh legal trouble as the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) conducted simultaneous raids at 45 locations across Tamil Nadu on July 29 in connection with an alleged TASMAC corruption case.
The searches covered Senthil Balaji’s residence in Karur, liquor manufacturing units, transport and bottling firms, district TASMAC offices, and premises linked to his associates. During the operation, the DVAC seized digital evidence, documents related to TASMAC and other incriminating materials.
The searches were carried out as part of an investigation into alleged irregularities in liquor procurement and distribution.
In an official release, the DVAC said it had registered V&AC Headquarters Crime No. 5/2026 on July 28, 2026, under Sections 120(B), 167, 409, 109 and 420 of the IPC; Sections 61(2), 201 and 316(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023; and Sections 13(2) read with 13(1)(a), and 7(c) read with 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended in 2018.
The FIR names former Electricity, Prohibition and Excise Minister V. Senthil Balaji; former TASMAC Managing Director S. Visakan, IAS; TASMAC officials Rama Durai Murugan and Panneer Selvam; Bhaskar, a former Personal Assistant to Senthil Balaji; private individuals Rathesh and Karthik, described as close associates of the former minister; along with distillery and brewery companies, transport firms, bottling companies, unidentified TASMAC officials and other unknown persons.
According to the DVAC, searches were conducted at the residences of the accused, liquor manufacturing units, transport firms, bottling companies and district TASMAC offices.
At one location, the owner of the premises could not be traced. As investigators had reasonable grounds to believe that incriminating documents and materials were present, the premises were sealed in the presence of Revenue officials. The investigation is continuing.
Sources said the statewide operation also covered liquor manufacturing units in Pudukkottai, Tiruvarur and Coimbatore, besides several TASMAC-linked premises in Chennai.
The searches reportedly began around 7 am on Wednesday at Senthil Balaji’s ancestral house in Rameswarapatti, where DVAC officials questioned his family members.
Simultaneous searches were also conducted at the residence of his aide, Subramani, in Moorthipalayam; the house of DMK East Union Secretary Bhaskar in Koyampalli; and the apartments of Karthik and Ramesh in Kothai Nagar.
The DVAC also searched the office of a TASMAC manager in the Karur Industrial Estate at Thozhilpettai and conducted searches at six locations linked to the former minister and his associates in Karur.
Searches were also carried out at KALS Distilleries Pvt. Ltd., a liquor manufacturing unit at Kallakottai near Gandharvakottai in Pudukkottai district, and at KALS Group, headed by Chairman and Managing Director S. Vasudevan and Nadessan Sivaprakasam.
Reportedly, the DVAC officials questioned Senthil Balaji at a private hotel in Chennai, where he is currently staying.
Another DVAC team, led by Inspector of Police Chithra, searched the premises of Golden Vats Private Limited in Karnavur village near Mannargudi in Tiruvarur district. The company, founded in 2007 and based in Chennai, has allegedly been linked to DMK MP T.R. Baalu.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier raided TASMAC, seized digital evidence and asked the DVAC to register FIRs. Senthil Balaji had previously spent over a year in jail in connection with the cash-for-jobs case and the PMLA case investigated by the ED.
Apart from Karur, searches were conducted in Chennai, Pudukkottai, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Coimbatore, Namakkal, Tiruppur, Erode, the Nilgiris, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Villupuram and Sivaganga.
The FIR alleges that while revenue from TASMAC retail shops increased year after year, revenue generated from TASMAC bars declined sharply.
It further alleges that bidders formed syndicates by submitting earnest money deposit (EMD) demand drafts issued consecutively by the same bank, indicating cartelisation in the tender process.
The FIR also alleges that used-bottle suppliers generated cash through bogus or inflated invoices, returned the cash to distilleries after deducting their commission, and that the money was allegedly used by distilleries to pay kickbacks to TASMAC officials in exchange for liquor supply orders.
The FIR was registered on July 28, 2026, and submitted before the Principal Judge, City Civil and Sessions Court, Chennai, along with the complaint and supporting documents spanning 145 pages.
Separately, Senthil Balaji, his brother R.V. Ashok Kumar, Karthik and Ramesh are also facing allegations in the Rs. 35-crore TVK MLA poaching case.
Triplicane Police have arrested 14 persons so far and suspect their involvement in the alleged conspiracy to topple the TVK government.
On July 8, the Madras High Court granted conditional anticipatory bail to Senthil Balaji and Ashok Kumar in the case.
Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay had earlier described the alleged TASMAC irregularities as a “party fund”, while the DMK has denied all the allegations.
Complaints continue that TASMAC outlets charge Rs. 10 above the MRP, do not issue bills and largely accept only cash payments. The TVK government is yet to take a final decision on its proposal to privatise liquor retail outlets, beginning with Chennai and other metro cities.
Senthil Balaji, widely regarded as one of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s most trusted ministers and political strategists, has remained at the centre of multiple corruption investigations in recent years. From the alleged cash-for-jobs scam and the Enforcement Directorate’s PMLA case to the latest DVAC probe into alleged TASMAC procurement irregularities, he has faced sustained legal scrutiny. Despite these cases, Stalin repeatedly stood by Balaji during the DMK government’s tenure, retaining him in the Cabinet for months even after his arrest by the ED, underscoring his political importance within the party.
