ED arrests Chennai criminal's brother in money laundering case

The agency's zonal office arrested D Senthil, brother of Sridhar Dhanpal, as he is "involved in the offence of money laundering in a case related to extortion and acquiring properties with the proceeds of crime".

Senthil has been sent to 15 days judicial custody by a court. He has been lodged in the Puzhal central prison, it said.

Dhanpal and his associates had as many as 26 police FIRs registered against them even as the CBI had issued an Interpol arrest warrant and it is suspected he is currently in Dubai, ED had earlier said.

The agency had said it began probing Dhanpal based on the FIR of Tamil Nadu Police against him and his associates and found that the said person had "committed the offence of money laundering using the proceeds of crime and had acquired 124 immovable properties in his name and name of his wife, daughter and brother".

"Senthil was examined, wherein he had inter alia stated that he had acted only on the instructions of his elder brother Dhanpal by purchasing immovable properties in his (Senthil's) name with the money given by Dhanpal and disposed off the properties as instructed by his brother and delivered the cash to the persons named by Dhanpal.

"He did not reveal any information on the proceeds of the crime being the sale proceeds of various immovable properties held in his name and transacted in the process," the agency said in a statement.

The ED, in September last year, had attached assets worth Rs 150 crore in this case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

It had said Dhanpal has been evading the "judicial proceedings in India for past three years and it is learnt that he flew from India in 2013 and is now in Dubai".

Dhanpal also had cases of extortion, murder and attempt to murder, illegal possession of arms registered against him, the agency had said.