Income Tax Department officials on Wednesday conducted searches at multiple locations in Chennai. Sources said that the searches were linked to the close aide of the Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji.

The searches, conducted since morning, were at the residences of contractors and suppliers of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation in Chennai, according to sources.

The Minister Balaji is currently lodged in Puzhal jail in an alleged cash-for-jobs scam case. The Chennai Principal Sessions Judge S. Alli on Wednesday denied bail to Senthil Balaji in a money laundering case booked by the Enforcement Directorate on the basis of a cash-for-jobs case investigated by the Tamil Nadu police.