The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Tamil Nadu Electricity, Prohibition and Excise Minister V Senthil Balaji under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), official sources said, making him the first member in the M K Stalin-led Cabinet to face such an action from a central probe agency.

Balaji was arrested after a long session of questioning, they said, even as the 47-year-old minister was admitted to a city government hospital after he complained of uneasiness. He underwent a coronary angiogram and was advised bypass surgery at the “earliest”. A local court later sent him to judicial custody till June 28.