KARUR: Police on Saturday issued summons to former DMK minister V Senthilbalaji and his brother, R V Ashok Kumar, directing them to appear before the Triplicane police at noon on Monday (July 6) for an inquiry in connection with the alleged attempt to bribe and poach TVK MLA N Elaiyaraja of Uthangarai assembly constituency. This comes amid allegations by DMK that the TVK govt is looking to arrest Senthilbalaji before chief minister C Joseph Vijay’s visit to Karur on July 10. The Triplicane police, who came to Karur to serve the summons, handed them over to their parents after failing to find the Coimbatore South MLA and his brother at their residence in Rameshwarapatti. A police team led by Triplicane sub-inspector Srinivasan explained the summons to Senthilbalaji’s father and obtained his acknowledgement. Lawyers representing the DMK were also present. Anticipating arrest, the former minister’s brother had moved the Madras high court seeking anticipatory bail. However, the court on Friday adjourned the hearing to Monday. Meanwhile, acting on the complaint lodged by the TVK MLA on June 29, police have so far arrested eight people, including two from Karur who are associates of Senthilbalaji. The arrested are Ramesh and Karthik, who run a popular restaurant in Karur, Thirunavukkarasu of Arumbakkam, Naresh of Trichy, Thiagarajan of Medavakkam, Selvan of Pallikaranai, Srinivasan of Manapakkam and Rajesh of Hastinapuram. In his complaint, the TVK MLA alleged that Thirunavukkarasu had offered him Rs 35 crore to vote against the speaker during a proposed motion in the Tamil Nadu assembly. During the investigation, police said the arrested people had acted on the instructions of Senthilbalaji and his brother. The summons assumes significance as the TVK govt has gone after former DMK ministers over charges ranging from corruption to defamation. On Friday, Tuticorin MLA Anitha R Radhakrishnan became the first former DMK minister to be arrested for an alleged defamatory speech against CM Vijay. Radhakrishnan later came out on bail.
